Malta has won its first two silver medals, courtesy of Beppe Grillo (100m) and Daniel Saliba (110m hurdles) and its first bronze medal (Peppijna Dalli – Pole Vault.)
These are the highlights from the first three hours of events at the Matthew Micallef St John Stadium in Marsa.
Women’s Pole Vault
A competition that really served up the drama, Moldova’s Angelina Zhuk-Krasnova and Cyprus’ Antea Vasou pushed each other with the former eventually winning with a seasonal best leap of 3.80m. Malta’s Peppijna Dalli equaled her best for the season of 3.60m.
Talking of her performance, Dalli said ““I am really happy with my performance today in an event that had some quality athletes in it. Today, I changed my pole just before the start of the competition and no doubt that there is great potential for me to continue jump much higher in the near future.”
Men’s 110m Hurdles
Cyprus’ Elvis Elli Kryukov took the Men’s hurdles with a time of 14.36s. Second place goes to Malta’s Daniel Saliba with Durjon Idrizak of Albania in third. Saliba’s run that earned him a silver medal would have also meant a new personal best but for wind assistance.
Speaking after the race, Saliba said “it was a great result for me personally. We are still in the early months of the season but to clock a personal best now so early in the campaign is great particularly with more races to come this summer, including the Mediterranean Games in Oran.”
Women’s 100m Hurdles
In the Women’s 100m hurdles, Cyprus Angeliki Athanasopoulou who won in a seasonal best of 14.07s. Just 0.04s seperated 2nd placed Glodis Edda Thuridardottir of Iceland and Iuliana Dovganici of Moldova. For the latter, the time of 14.43s was also a seasonal best.
Men’s Hammer Throw
Moldova’s Serghei Marghiev led the men’s hammer throw throughout the competition but sealed his win with a massive 74.17m final throw. Iceland’s Hilmar Orn Jonsson finished in 2nd place with a throw of 70.95m with Cyprus’ Alexandros Poursanidis in third. Malta’s Luca Martini put in a good showing but his best throw came in at 54.33m.
Men’s 100m
After a dramatic false start, the 100m served up the thrills as Kolbeinn Hodur Gunnarsson 🇮🇸 sprinted home in 10.59s, setting a new Championship record in the process. Malta’s Beppe Grillo finished in second place with an excellent 10.65s, slightly edging out Dagur Andri Einarsson, also of Iceland.
A delighted Grillo said that “it’s a great result for me. I am very happy with my performance as the time achieved today was what my coach and I were looking for today. So to get it in these Games is quite special for me.”
Women’s 100m
San Marino’s Alessandra Gasparelli was the fastest athlete in a very competitive field, winning in 11.67s, beating out Cyprus’ Marianna Pisiara and Iceland’s Tiana Osk Whitworth. For Malta’s Carla Scicluna there was the satisfaction of a new personal best with a time of 11.85s. Malta’s Alessia Cristina also achieved a new personal best with 12.50s.
The full programme of events is available on https://cssemalta22.mt/. Entry is free of charge.
CSSE 2022 and the Maltese National Team are supported by the Maltese Olympic Committee, SportMalta, The Malta Tourism Authority, Eurosport, Medcomms Ltd., Big Mat, Salini Resort and Corporate ID Group.
Photo Dominic Aquilina
