Athletics: Long-standing 100m and 4x100m relay records broken in superlative displays

Malta’s 100m national record has been broken after almost a decade following a superlative performance by Beppe Grillo in Izmir, Turkey, during the Balkan Championships as he completed his sprint in 10.23s to finish in third place and earn a bronze medal for Malta, shattering the previous best in the process.

 This record belonged to Kevin Moore since August 2014, at 10.49s. Grillo was competing against several strong athletes from Central and Eastern Europe. Having already achieved a national record in the semi-finals (10.47s), the young athlete managed an incredible 10.23s in the final, earning him third place and a bronze medal. Two Turkish athletes took the top two spots in the final, with the Maltese athlete in finishing ahead of strong athletes from Serbia, Greece and Romania.

The 100m distance continued to be a source of pride for the Maltese as the relay team also set a new national record, with Jacob El Aida Chaffey, Graham Pellegrini, Luke Bezzina and Beppe Grillo completing it in 40.57s in third place, ahead of Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine and Slovenia, earning a second bronze for Malta. This record had resisted since GSSE Andorra, held in 2015.