The Malta Amateur Athletic Association is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Malta. Matthew Micallef St John Athletics Stadium in Marsa is the home of Maltese Athletics. The objectives for which the Association is established are to encourage, promote, develop and control athletics in Malta amongst all as a means of promoting physical health and well-being.
Maltese representation in Athletics at Summer Olympics:
Maltese Athletics were present for the first time on the international scene during the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936. Coming so close at the end of WWII with Malta still devastated from the German bombings, Maltese Athletics with Nestor Jacono was Malta's sole representative at the 1948 London Olympiad. Nestor Jacono (February 15, 1925 – May 4, 2014) was a Maltese athlete who competed in the Men's 100 metres sprint at the 1948 Olympics. In 2005 he was included in the Hall of Fame of the Maltese Olympic Committee. Before he died in May 2014, he was the Maltese oldest living Olympian. Athletics was again present in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics with one athlete in Women's Javelin Throw, Jennifer Pace the only Maltese field athlete ever present at an Olmpiad. 1992 Barcelona Olympics Maltese Athletics was on show with Athletics Women's 100 metres Deirdre Caruana (100m, 200m) and Carol Galea (800m, 1500m). In Atlanta 1996 Mario Bonello (100m) and Carol Galea (Marathon) were our athletes on the Track. Track was present again in Sydney 2000 Olympics with Mario Bonello (100m) and Suzanne Spiteri (100m). Athens 2004 Olympics saw the participation of Darren Gilford (100m) and Tanya Blake (800m).The athletes sent by the Malta Olympic Committee for the Beijing Olympics were sprinters Nikolai Portelli (200m) and Charlene Attard (100m). Among the Maltese delegation for the 2012 London Olympics were two track and field athletes, Rachid Chouhal and Diane Borg (both 100m). Malta also competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and athletics was present through Luke Bezzina (100m) and Charlotte Wingfield (100m).
Ivet Miroslavova Lalova-Collio is a Bulgarian athlete who specialises in the 100 metres and 200 metres sprint events. She is the 13th-fastest woman in the history of the 100 metres. She finished fourth in the 100 metres and fifth in the 200 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Her career was interrupted for two years between June 2005 and May 2007 due to a leg injury sustained in a collision with another athlete. In June 2012 she won gold at the 2012 European Athletics Championships in the Women's 100 metres. In July 2016 she won two silver medals at the 2016 European Athletics Championships in both the Women's 100 and 200 metres. She has participated in five editions of the Olympic Games.
Malta competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States. Malta took part in athletics, judo, sailing, shooting and swimming.
Kinue Hitomi was a Japanese track and field athlete. She was the world record holder in several events in the 1920s – 1930s and was the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic medal. She was also the first woman to represent Japan at the Olympics.
Fiji sent a delegation to compete at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from 17 July to 1 August 1976. This was the nation's fifth appearance at a Summer Olympic Games. Their first appearance was at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Fiji's delegation consisted of two competitors. Tony Moore who made it to the quarter-finals of the 200m sprint and round 1 in the 100m sprint. After not starting in the 400m sprint, he only made the qualification stage of the long jump. The other athlete was Miriama Tuisorisori-Chambault who competed in the women's pentathlon and long jump. She finished 18th overall in the pentathlon and 27th in qualifying for the long jump. She would not start in the 100m hurdles.
Deshabandu Kobala Vithanage Damayanthi Dharsha-Kobalavithanage is a retired Sri Lankan athlete who competed in the 200 and 400 metres race events. She is the current Asian Games record holder in women's 200m event and current Asian Athletics Championships record holder in women's 400m event as well as national record holder in women's 400m. She is regarded as one of the greatest track and field athletes to have represented Sri Lanka at international level alongside her teammate Susanthika Jayasinghe. She is also regarded as the most successful Sri Lankan athlete at the Asian Games with a medal haul of four medals including three gold medals and became the first Sri Lankan female athlete to clinch three Asian Games gold medals. She represented Sri Lanka at the Olympics on three occasions in 1992, 2000 and 2004. She also represented Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Games on four occasions in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006 as well as at the South Asian Games on four occasions.
Malta competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China from 8 to 24 August 2008. The country's participation at Beijing marked its fourteenth appearance at a Summer Olympics since its début at the 1928 Summer Olympics. The delegation sent by the Malta Olympic Committee consisted of six athletes: sprinters Nikolai Portelli and Charlene Attard, light-middleweight judoka Marcon Bezzina, double trap shooter William Chetcuti and short-distance swimmers Ryan Gambin and Madeleine Scerri.
Francis Kompaon is a T46 Papua New Guinean athlete.
Malta competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its fifteenth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its début at the 1928 Summer Olympics. The delegation included two track and field athletes, Rachid Chouhal and Diane Borg, one double trap shooter William Chetcuti and two swimmers Andrew Chetcuti and Nicola Muscat. All five competitors qualified for the Games through wildcard places. William Chetcuti was selected as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony while Borg held it at the closing ceremony. Choudai did not progress beyond the preliminary stages of the men's 100 metres, while Borg advanced to the first round of the women's 100 metres before being eliminated. William Chetcuti finished ninth in the double trap shooting event, while Andrew Chetcuti and Muscat were unable to progress to the first rounds of their respective swimming disciplines.
Dafne Schippers is a Dutch retired track and field athlete who competed in sprinting and the combined events. She holds the European record in the 200 metres with a time of 21.63 seconds, making her the sixth-fastest woman of all time at this distance. She also holds the Dutch records in the 100 metres and long jump, and shares the Dutch records in the 60 metres indoor and 4 × 100 metres relay.
Algeria competed at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Australia. It was the country's third participation in the Summer Paralympic Games. Its delegation consisted in six track and field athletes and two competitors in powerlifting. Sprinter Mohamed Allek, who has cerebral palsy, won all of Algeria's medals at these Games - three gold.
Rheed McCracken is an Australian Paralympic athletics competitor. He named the 2012 Junior Athlete of the Year as part of the Australian Paralympian of the Year Awards. He represented Australia at the 2012 London Paralympics, 2016 Rio Paralympics, 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and the 2024 Paris Paralympics, where he won three silver and three bronze medals.
Zharnel Hughes is an Anguilla-born British sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres and 200 metres. Born and raised in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, he has competed internationally for Great Britain in the Olympic Games, World Athletics and European Athletics events, and for England at the Commonwealth Games, since 2015. A double Commonwealth Games, double European Championships gold medalist as part of the 4 x 100 metres relay, Hughes has twice been European champion individually; over 100 metres in 2018, and 200 metres in 2022. In 2023, he broke both British sprint records, before winning his first global individual medal, a bronze in the 100 metres at the 2023 World championships.
Brent Lakatos is a Canadian wheelchair racer in the T53 classification. Lakatos has represented Canada at four Summer Paralympics, and at the 2012 Games he won three silver medals in the sprint and mid-distance events. In 2013 Lakatos reached the pinnacle of his sport when he collected four gold medals at the IPC Athletics World Championships and became world champion at his classification in the 100m, 200m and 400m events.
The 100 metres at the Summer Olympics has been contested since the first edition of the multi-sport event. The men's 100 metres has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896. The 100 metres is considered one of the blue ribbon events of the Olympics and is among the highest profile competitions at the games. It is the most prestigious 100 metres race at an elite level and is the shortest sprinting competition at the Olympics – a position it has held at every edition except for a brief period between 1900 and 1904, when a men's 60 metres was contested.
Nestor Jacono was a Maltese athlete who competed in the Men's 100 metres sprint at the 1948 Summer Olympic Games held in London, United Kingdom.
The Maldives competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's eighth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics. The delegation included two track and field athletes: Hassan Saaid and Afa Ismail, as well as swimmers Ibrahim Nishwan and Aminath Shajan. Both Shajan and Ismail were returning competitors from the 2012 London Olympics, with the former leading the Maldivian squad as the flag bearer in the opening ceremony. The Maldives, however, has yet to win its first ever Olympic medal.
The European Athletics U18 Championships are a biennial athletics competition for European athletes under the age of eighteen.
Carla Scicluna is a Maltese sprinter. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Women's 100 m.
Julien Alfred is a Saint Lucian sprinter. She won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 100 metres event, setting a new national record of 10.72s in the final. Her medal was the first-ever Olympic medal for Saint Lucia. She then won a silver in the 200 metres. Alfred also won the gold medal in the 60 metres at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships.
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