Special Feature

News - Malta in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games

Sydney Olympics Opening Ceremony starts at 1900 local time (1000 CET) The first Olympiad of the new millennium, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, start off officially with the Opening Ceremony on Friday evening at 19000hrs local time, (1000 CET). The following is a report by Oreste Aquilina, who will be one of the singers at the Opening ceremony with the Philharmonia Choir, particularly when the Cauldron will be lit. "I've been to the two dress rehearsals we had and let me assure you people will be glued to their TV sets, it is a really great show. We, the people who are taking part have to be at our 'hub' for the bus to take us to the Stadium at 1.30pm and the ceremony is not on till 7.00pm most of us have then been getting home at 1.00am or later. But it's all fun. "Here in Sydney and in Australia in general, the Olympic fever is growing so much, yesterday the torch went through our street Pennant Hills Road and people were lining the street all over, we had a bit of a party just on the footpath with all the flags etc. At every park where the torch stops Cauldrons are lit and the Councils organized Shows for the crowds. Today, Huge crowds have gone to see athletes and personalities to see the Olympic torch There were about one million people liming the streets all over Sydney, the Opera House, George Street, The crowds in the streets were 5, 10 and 50 deep. At the Town Hall you just couldn't get in the square in front of it was chock a block. A lot of the streets are closed and people having parties in the middle of the street as some of the streets were closed for traffic. The torch goes up to the northern beaches of Sydney today and goes back and up the Opera House sails and up to Homebush Bay for the lighting of the Cauldron. We won't know yet who will be given the honour of lighting it, neither does the actual person until 20 minutes before the lighting. The city is looking really beautiful and wherever you go everyone is wearing the security cards around their necks. There are heaps of sportspeople around. The harbour looks magnificent. Lots of ships all lit up and dressed. The olympic rings lit up on the harbour bridge look great."  (MM)   [Thu 13/09/00 23:58:45 CET]

Sydney Olympics start off on Friday The first Olympiad of the new millennium, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, start off officially with the Opening Ceremony on Friday evening, while the first events start on Saturday morning local time. Malta is being represented by seven athletes - Mario Bonello and Sue Spiteri (athletics), Angela Galea and John J. Tabone (swimming), Laurie Pace (judo), Frans Pace (shooting) and Mario Aquilina (sailing). Another two athletes of Maltese origins, Simon Gerada (table-tennis) and Ashley Callus (swimming - 4x100m freestyle), will be representing Australia. The first Maltese athletes to get in action are Frans Pace in the first session of the trap shooting and Angela Galea in the heats of the 100m butterfly. Meanwhile Jeff Fenech, the former Maltese-Australian boxer, took part in the penultimate leg of the Olympic torch relay. Hundreds of thousands people brought the heart of Sydney to a standstill for the penultimate leg of the torch relay. About twenty of the torch-bearers over the hundred days of the relay were of Maltese origins.  (MM)   [Thu 13/09/00 23:58:45 CET]

Maltese athletes leave for Sydney Olympics The Maltese contingent left Malta on Monday at 1645 CET for the 27th edition of the Olympic Games that will be held in Sydney, Australia between the 15th September and 1st October. The contingent, led by Chef de Mission Pippo Psaila, is made up of Malta Olympic Committee president Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco, Mr Peter Tortell, the athletes - judoka Laurie Pace, athletes Mario Bonello and Sue Spiteri and swimmers John J. Tabone and Angela Galea - and the coaches - Donato Sabia (athletics), Sergei Teliouk (judo) and Attila Selmeci (swimming). The two other athletes who will be representing Malta, Frans Pace (shooting) and Mario Aquilina (yachting), together with their coaches Peter Croft and Peter Valentino respectively had already travelled to Australia in the past weeks. Laurie Pace, who already represented Malta in the Barcelona and Atlanta Olympic Games, will be carrying the Maltese flag during the opening ceremony.(MM) [Tue 05/9/00 00:45:26 CET]

Sixteen Maltese Olympic Torch Bearers in the first 71 days At least, sixteen Maltese-Australians have taken part in the first 71 days of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Torch Relay. The first one was Paul Lapira, a veteran athlete, also know as Aussie Paul, who ran on Day 4 of the relay from Toowoomba to Tweed Heads. The other torch bearers with Maltese origins were Carmel Azzopardi, Darryl Camilleri, Anthony Galea, Susan Vella, Darren Salerno, Josie Borg, Lilian Falzon, Gavin Wanganeen, Mario Fenech, Aaron Tabone, Joseph Spiteri, Tony Mifsud, Tanya Borg, Matthew Farrugia and Joseph Polidano. More information about these Maltese-Australians who had the honour of taking part in the Olympic Torch relay can be obtained by visiting the web-page by Charles J. Belli.  (MM)   [Thu 31/08/00 22:46:03 CET]

Shooting: Frans Pace All Malta Champion Frans Pace, who will be representing Malta in next month's Olympic Games in Sydney won the Mitsubishi Motors All Malta Open which was held at the Malta Shooting Federation's ranges in Bidnija. Pace hit 142 clays, including two straights. The runner-up was George Cassar with 139. Philip Mifsud was third with 134, followed by Frans Bugeja with 134, Aldo Falzon with 134 and William Rogers 131.  (MM)   [Mon 21/08/00 19:58:46 CET]

Olympic athletes visit President The athletes who will be taking part in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, starting on the 15th September, paid a courtesy visit to the President of the Republic Prof Guido de Marco. The President urged the athletes to always aim high. He told them that he is convinced that they would feel at home once they are in Australia by the Maltese community in Sydney.  (MM)   [Sat 19/08/00 08:48:16 CET]

Top role for Maltese-Australian in volleyball in Sydney Olympics Maltese-Australian Anton Micallef is the official equipment supervisor and field-of-play co-ordinator for the beach volleyball players at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games to be held at Bondi Beach. Elizabeth and Frank Micallef, Anton's parents, lived in Sliema while he resides in Melton, Australia. Micallef is responsible for 48 athletes from around the world and for all the 10,000-seat-stadium's facilities. Micallef is also responsible for net height, court size and sand level. Micallef spent the last 17 years playing, coaching and managing a beach volleyball centre. He also took an active part in the organization of prestigious volleyball championships.  (MM)   [Sun 13/08/00 13:47:52 CET]

MOC names athletes for Olympic Games During a press conference at the MOC Headquarters, the Malta Olympic Commitee announced the names of the seven athletes who will be representing Malta in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. The athletes are Laurie Pace (Judo - 57kg), Frans Pace (Shooting - Trap), Mario Aquilina (Yachting - Laser), Mario Bonello (Athletics - 100m or 200m), Sue Spiteri (Athletics - 100m), John J. Tabone (Swimming - 4x100m individual medley) and Angela Galea (Swimming - 100m butterfly). All athletes will be accompanied by their coaches, that is, Donato Sabia (athletics), Attila Selmeci (swimming), Sergei Teliouk (judo), Peter Croft (shooting) and Peter Valentino (sailing). Meanwhile from the press conference, emerged the fact that Rachid Chouhal, current holder of the 200m national record, could not be included with the list of athletes for Sydney as the MOC had to follow international regulations which prohibit them from adding any more names to the list. Addressing the press conference were MOC President Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco, Australian High Commissioner Ian Dickey, the Chef de Mission Mr Pippo Psaila and the Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sport.  (MM)   [Sat 05/08/00 21:41:53 CET]

Athletics: Pembroke teams dominate Clubs League Athleta Pembroke clinched the Malta Amateur Athletic Association Clubs' League title for the third year in a row while their. Their men's B team placed second showing that they are by far the strongest club on the island. On the third day, the Athleta Men's A Team registered good wins winning four individual events thanks to Darren Gilford (200m), Brian Magri (5,000m) Emmanuel Pulis (triple jump) and Paul Vincenti (javelin), and the 4x100m relay. The team won 122 points which was their highest in the league this year. In the women's league, Athleta confirmed their all-round strength. Here again they won the top two placings with the other clubs lagging far behind. The outstanding individual performance of the day was, however, that of Bonello who on the last day of competition, before Olympic selection, scored an important victory over Rachid Chouhal to set a new national record of 10.64 seconds for the men's 100m. Another remarkable performance was that of Fabio Spiteri with 1:55.2 in the 800m. In the women's events the best performance came from Giselle Camilleri (St Patrick's) when she won the 5,000m in 17:31.9.  (MM)   [Sat 05/08/00 16:49:10 CET]

Swimming: Angela Galea and John Tabone to represent Malta in Sydney Olympics Angela Galea and John J. Tabone will be representing Malta in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games after establishing national records in the 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly respectively in the National Swimming Championships. But while Tabone was almost sure of a place in the Olympic Games, Galea was facing the challenge of Stephanie Schranz. After that on Day 2, Stephanie Schranz clocked 1:19.98 in the 100m breaststroke and Angela Galea covered the 200m butterfly distance in 2:31.72, both of them failing to establish a national record, Schranz needed to improve the record of the 200m breaststroke to make it for Sydney. However she swam the 200m breaststroke in 2:51.37, a time which was 3.03 seconds outside her target for FINA points. Therefore Galea will be travelling to Sydney as she tops the FINA ranking list. In the 100m freestyle, Galea clocked 1:07.28, improving the official record by 0.49 seconds. However this time will not be recognised for record purposes. In the other events, J.J. Tabone was 0.37 outside his 100m freestyle record, when clocking 56.32. On Day 1, John Tabone, already holder of several other records clocked 2:02:35 in the 200m freestyle to improve the previous record, which also belonged to him, by .05s. On the other hand, Angela Galea established a new record in the 100m butterfly with a time of 1:07.77.  (MM)   [Fri 04/08/00 12:46:53 CET]

Swimming: Angela Galea and John Tabone to represent Malta in Sydney Olympics Angela Galea and John J. Tabone will be representing Malta in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games after establishing national records in the 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly respectively in the National Swimming Championships. But whereas Tabone was almost sure of a place in the Olympic Games, Galea was facing the challenge of Stephanie Schranz. After that on Day 2, Stephanie Schranz clocked 1:19.98 in the 100m breaststroke and Angela Galea covered the 200m butterfly distance in 2:31.72, both of them failing to establish a national record, Schranz needed to improve the record of the 200m breaststroke. However she failed and therefore Galea will be travelling to Sydney. On Day 1, John Tabone, already holder of several other records clocked 2:02:35 in the 200m freestyle to improve the previous record, which also belonged to him, by .05s. On the other hand, Angela Galea established a new record in the 100m butterfly with a time of 1:07.77.  (MM)   [Thu 03/08/00 22:46:53 CET]

Yachting: Successful performance for Maltese sailors in Sicily Four Maltese sailors, representing the Malta Sailing Federation took part successfully in the Trofeo Luigi Grassi regatta organised by the Club Ruggero di Lauria in Mondello, Sicily. They took part in the International Laser Class, an Olympic Class of 4.2 metre single-handed boats. This class is the only Olympic boat to be contested in Malta. Malta champion Mario Aquilina and Adrian Gauci Borda sailed in the Laser Standard fleet while Simon Aquilina and Peter Valentino sailed in the Laser Radial fleet. After three days of tough competition Mario Aquilina and Gauci Borda finished first and third respectively in the Standard fleet while Valentino and Simon Aquilina placed second and third respectively in the Radial fleet. For the third consecutive year, Mario Aquilina won the Trofeo Luigi Grassi for the best overall result. Aquilina will be representing Malta in the Laser Class regatta in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games next month.  (MM)   [Thu 03/08/00 12:07:16 CET]

Athletics: Mario Bonello and Sue Spiteri to represent Malta in Sydney Olympics The Malta Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA) has chosen Mario Bonello and Sue Spiteri as Malta's representatives in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Both athletes established new records in the past days. Mario Bonello set a new record 100m by hitting a new best timing of 10.64s while Sue Spiteri set a new record for the 200m when she clocked 25.17s. Both Bonello and Spiteri will be running the 100m and 200m events. Meanwhile, the MAAA appealed to the Malta Olympic Committee to offer another athlete, Rachid Chouhal, the chance to take part in the Olympic Games. Last week, Chouhal established a new national record in the 200m while he was taking part in the 22nd edition of the Siki-Memorial athletic meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He also managed to obtain good timings in the 100m both in Slovenia and here in Malta.  (MM)   [Mon 31/07/00 23:08:47 CET]

Olympic Games: Laurie Pace to represent Malta in Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Laurie Pace has qualified for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games thanks to one of the 15 wildcards which were distributed worldwide. Pace will be representing Malta in the Olympic Games for the third time in her career. Last year, Laurie Pace won the gold medal in her category in the Small Nations Games in Liechtenstein. She is currently in Rome for her final preparations with Russian coach Sergei Teliouk. Besides Laurie Pace, the only other athlete who is sure of taking part is shooter Frans Pace. Malta will be taking part in another three disciplines - athletics, swimming and sailing. The athletes who will be taking part have to be named in three weeks' time.  (MM)   [Tue 25/07/00 22:43:59 CET]

Maltese-Australian carries Olympic torch Local weekly KullHadd reports that former Maltese-Australian athlete Paul Lapira, known as 'Aussie Paul' and 'The Marathon Man' will be carrying the Olympic torch on Sunday on the fourth day of the relay which will reach Sydney on the 15th September for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Lapira hails from Valletta but now lives in Highland Park, Queensland.  (MM)   [Sun 11/06/00 23:07:43 CET]

Yachting: Malta to be represented in Sydney Olympics The Malta Yachting Federation received an invitation from the International Sailing Federation to send one Maltese sailor to compete in the Sydney 2000 Laser Class regatta. The invitation is the result of a request by the MYF for Malta to qualify for a Sydney 2000 place on the strength of the commitment being shown by the Olympic squad as well as on the basis of positive results achieved on the international scene this year.  (MM)   [Fri 12/05/00 06:15:59 CET]

Shooting: Frans Pace first athlete for Sydney Olympics Frans Pace is the first athlete to qualify for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in September after winning the fourth and final selection shoot. This will be his second participation in the Olympic Games after placing 18th in the Atlanta Games in 1996. Lately he placed eighth in the Pre-Olympic World Cup in Sydney. The competition was based on 125 clay targets plus a final barage of 25. Overall Pace placed first with a total of 137. George Micallef placed second with 135 followed by Anthony Bugeja with 134, Paul Vella 132, Nazzareno Attard and Joe Camilleri with 129.  (MM)   [Mon 08/05/00 23:12:47 CET]

Shooting: Frans Pace wins Sydney 2000 selection Frans Pace, who recently placed eighth in the Pre-Olympic World Cup in Australia, won the Falcon Trap Sydney 2000 Selection, a competition which gives the winner a place in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Pace won the competition with an overall 141 clay targets out of 150 (125+25). George Micallef placed second with 139, Nicky Carabott with 135, A. Falzon with 133, Antoine Bugeja with 132 and Noel Attard 131.  (MM)   [Mon 17/04/00 21:57:18 CET]

New MOC HQ to be ready by mid-May The new headquarters of the Malta Olympic Committee at the National Pool Complex, Tal-Qroqq will be ready by mid-May and will be inaugurated in June. In a press conference MOC President Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco announced that the MOC will be establishing a Management Board, consisting of five or six persons, which will be doing the day-to-day work. Farrugia Sacco said that the MOC has spent over Lm542,000 over five years in technical aid to to its federations and associations. Meanwhile, MOC Director of Sports, Mr Pippo Psaila said that in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Malta will be represented in athletics and swimming. There is also a good possibility of being represented in judo, yachting and shooting.  (MM)   [Sun 09/04/00 18:17:31 CET]

Shooting: Malta to be awarded wild-card for Sydney Olympics Malta Shooting Federation president Saviour Portelli announced that following the excellent results obtained by the Maltese team in the Sydney Pre-Olympic World Cup in which Malta placed second behind the United States, the International Sports Shooting Federation president Vaskes Rana promised Malta a wild card for the trap event in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. The favourite is Frans Pace who finished in the eighth place in the Sydney World Cup and who is currently leading the selection shoots.  (MM)   [Fri 07/04/00 22:45:00 CET]

Shooting Eighth place for Frans Pace in Sydney World Cup Maltese shooters did very well in the World Cup that was held in Sydney, Australia at the same venue where Olympic shooting will be held later on this year. Frans Pace hit 116 out of 125 to place eighth. Had he managed to hit another two, Pace would have placed among the top six shooters in the world. Young Antoine Bugeja hit 115, Joe Attard 113, Paul Vella 106 and Noel Attard 98.  (MM)   [Sun 26/03/00 10:29:34 CET]

Olympic Games Maltese-Australian to carry Olympic torch Valletta-born Paul Lapira from Highland Park, Queensland is one of the athletes that will be carrying the Olympic torch on its way to Sydney for the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Lapira is a veteran long-distance runner who takes part in several events all over Australia.  (MM)   [Fri 10/03/00 14:31:17 CET]

Financial aid for the MOC by Australian High Commissioner Australian High Commissioner Colin Willis presented the Malta Olympic Committee with a cheque of Lm 1,800 (US$ 4,500) to help the MOC collect enough funds to be help the local athletes who will be taking part in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games which will be held in September. These funds are the result of a number of fund raising activities which were held by Australian embassy in Malta. A similar campaign is taking place in Australia, organised by the Maltese General Consulate.  (MM)   [Sat 05/02/00 09:02:31 CET]

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