Malta celebrated its first gold medal in swimming on Tuesday evening as Sasha Gatt triumphed in a tightly contested 800-metre freestyle final at the GSSE Games in Andorra.
In a thrilling race that saw her neck and neck with Monaco’s Lisa Pou for much of the distance, Gatt found an extra gear in the closing metres to edge ahead and touch the wall first in a time of 8:49.74. Pou followed closely behind, clocking 8:50.26 to take silver, while Luxembourg’s Lou Jomnet completed the podium with a time of 9:06.87.
Gatt’s victory marked Malta’s third gold medal on the opening day of competition, further cementing the nation’s impressive start to the Games.
There was more success in the pool for Malta as Nirvana Micallef delivered a strong performance to secure silver in the 200m butterfly. Micallef finished just 0.54 seconds behind Luxembourg’s Emma Barthel, who took gold with a time of 2:23.45. Micallef touched in at 2:23.94, while Cyprus’ Agathi Manoli claimed bronze.
The performances by Gatt and Micallef underscored Malta’s growing prominence in swimming and added to a promising medal tally early in the competition.
