Athletics: Maltese Athletes Break Records at Home While Impressing on the International Stage

Athletes are gearing up for the new season with the second Athletics Malta Pre-Season Meet, which featured a full programme in Marsa and attracted strong participation across all events.

The meet produced a series of standout performances, including two category bests among the youth categories, all set by La Salle AC athletes. Matteo Gauci ran a new U16 1000m National record with a time of 2:38.92, while Matthew Azzopardi registered a new U18 600m National Record, clocking 1:22.78.

Sprint events were particularly well contested. Strong participation was recorded on the 60m distance, both male and female. Among the men, Pembroke’s Jorrin Busuttil posted the fastest time with 7.06s, ahead of Rush AC’s Luca Gerada with 7.11s, both Under 20 athletes delivering encouraging performances. Busuttil went on to double up in another widely contested event, the 300m, winning in 34.81s ahead of Pembroke’s Graham Pellegrini, who finished close behind in 34.95. In the 60m, Rush’s Rachid Chouhal stopped the clock at 7.51s, setting an M50 national record.

The women’s sprints also saw strong depth. The 60m attracted 37 female athletes, with Claire Azzopardi the only athlete to go below eight seconds, finishing in 7.60s, ahead of her Pembroke teammate Alessia Cristina (8.04s) and Carey Spiteri of Rush AC (8.06s). Azzopardi also completed a double in the 300m, clearing the field in 40.01, this time ahead of Spiteri, who clocked 42.47s.

Another age record was set by Neil Brimmer, whose 1:27.76 earned him an M40 record on the 600m.

On the field, other notable performance came from Mariah Barbara, in the Under 23 category, who registered substanial progress in the javelin, with a throw of 33.90m. 14-year-old Sophia Curmi (Rush AC), who threw an impressive 48.62m.

Maltese athletes also delivered strong performances abroad as the indoor season progresses. Charlotte Wingfield clocked 7.64s on the 60m in Wales, the fastest time by a Maltese athlete on an indoor track this year. In the US, Jeremy Zammit, representing UCLA, recorded 7.31m in the long jump at the Dr Martin Luther King Jr Invitational 2026, before going on to register a superlative 7.46m at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic 2026. In distance events, Mireya Bugeja ran 9:50.26 on the 3000m, Indianapolis, rounding off an encouraging series of performances on the international stage. Another prestigious result for Malta was achieved by Rebecca Sare, who won gold in the long jump at the Open Masters Games in Abu Dhabi, with a 5.44m jump.