Maltese Participation in the Olympic Games 1928-1996
Games of the IX Olympiad - 1928 Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Malta took part in the Olympic Games for the first time in the 1928 edition held in Amsterdam. It was an initiative of the Governor of Malta, Lord Plumer. The Malta Olympic Committee was set up in June 1928 and a month later, Malta was taking part in the Amsterdam Games.
Malta participated in waterpolo where the team won one game and lost two. In the first game, Malta beat Luxembourg 3-1, but in the second game, Malta suffered a heavy 16-0 defeat to France who eventually won the bronze medal. In the third match, Malta lost 8-0 to the United States.
The players were C. Busietta, A. Rizzo, H. Bonavia, E. Magri, L. Darmanin, V.F. Busietta, R. Fiorini Lowell, V.J. Pace and R. Nappa.
Games of the XI Olympiad - 1936 Berlin, Germany
After failing to take part in the 1932 edition in Los Angeles due to the fact that the MOC had not paid the affiliation fee with the International Olympic Committee and therefore was no longer considered a member of the international body, Malta returned to the games in 1936 when these were held in Germany. This time, Malta took part in athletics and waterpolo. In athletics, Malta was represented by Austin Cassar Torregiani, A.J. Bencini and P. Pace. Cassar Torregiani was drawn in the same heat in the 100 metres as Jesse Owens, winner of four gold medals in this edition. The local athlete placed fourth.
In waterpolo, Malta lost 8-2 to Britain, 12-0 to Hungary and 7-0 to Yugoslavia. The players were J. Demicoli, J. Frendo Azzopardi, A. Lanzon, F. Wismayer, F. Schembri, A. Podesta, W. Podesta, S. Scott, J. Chetcuti, C. Parlato and J. F. Albanese.
Games of the XIV Olympiad - 1948 London, England
Malta took part once again in 1948, the first edition which followed World War II. Malta was represented in athletics by Nestor Jacono, the leading athlete at that time. He placed fifth out of six competitors.
Games of the XVII Olympiad - 1960 Rome, Italy
Malta missed the 1952 and 1956 editions which were held in Helsinki and Melbourne, returning for the 1960 Games which were held in Rome. In these games, Malta took part in four disciplines - Cycling, Sailing, Shooting and Swimming. The results were rather disappointing.
In cycling, Malta finished in the 29th place out of 33 countries. The Maltese cyclists were Bugeja, Camilleri and Polidano. Representing Malta were Grixti and Dowling in swimming, W. Vella and P. Grech in shooting together with the Ripard brothers (Star class), Borda and Formosa (Finn Class) in sailing.
Games of the XIX Olympiad - 1968 Mexico City, Mexico
In the Mexico Games in 1968, Malta was represented with one shooter, Joe Grech who finished in the 46th place out of 52 competitors. This was the second participation for Grech in the Olympic Games.
Games of the XX Olympiad - 1972 Munich, West Germany
Malta participated in the Olympic Games for the sixth time in the Munich games in cycling and shooting. Five cyclists and two shooters, namely L. Bezzina, J. Magri, P. Mallia, J. Grech, A. Caruana, J. Bugeja and A. Tonna took part.
The cyclists took part in the team time trials, finishing in the 31st place out of 35 countries. Joe Grech, competing for his third time in the Olympic Games, placed 56th out of 62 competitors.
Games of the XXII Olympiad - 1980 Moscow, USSR
Malta participated in the Moscow Games in Archery, Cycling and Shooting. Laurence Vella obtained a most prestigious result when he managed to finish in the 11th place in the final standings with a total of 189. Frans Chetcuti hit 179 clays, placing 28th out of 34 competitors.
For the first time, Malta was represented by a female athlete, Joanna Agius who took part in Archery. She finished in the 28th place out of 29 competitors. The other archer, Leo Portelli finished in the last place. In cycling, Malta participated in both the team and the individual events. Malta finished in the 20th place out of 23 countries. None of the Maltese cyclists finished the race in the individual event.
Games of the XXIII Olympiad - 1984 Los Angeles, USA
In Los Angeles, Malta participated in Archery, Athletics, Board Sailing, Shooting and Wrestling. In Boardsailing, Peter Bonello obtained one of the best results ever by a Maltese athlete in the Olympic Games. Bonello finished in the 9th place out of 39 competitors. Athlete Jennifer Pace managed to establish a new national record in javelin, improving the previous record by 2 metres. However this was not enough, as she finished last out of 13 athletes.
In wrestling, Jesmond Giordmaina won his first bout against a wrestler from Taiwan, but then lost his two other bouts, ending in the 12th place out of 17 competitors. The other wrestler, Alex Zammit failed to win any bouts.
In shooting, Michael Gauci and Frans Chetcuti finished in the 48th and 51st place, respectively out of 71 competitors while in archery, Joanna Agius, in her second participation in the Olympic Games, placed 41st out of 47 archers.
Games of the XXIV Olympiad - 1988 Seoul, South Korea
In Seoul, Malta took part once again in four disciplines - Archery, Board Sailing, Judo and Wrestling. Malta was represented by Joanna Agius (third participation) in Archery, Jean Paul Fleri Soler in Boardsailing, Jason Trevisan in Judo and Jesmond Giordmaina and Paul Farrugia in Wrestling.
The best result in these games was obtained by Fleri Soler who was a reserve in the Los Angeles Games placed 35th out of 45 boardsailers.
Games of the XXV Olympiad - 1992 Barcelona, Spain
In the 1992 Games in Barcelona, Malta took part in Athletics, Boardsailing, Judo and Shooting.
The athletes were Deirdre Caruana and Carol Galea (athletics), Laurie Pace and Jason Trevisan (judo), Horace Micallef (shooting) and Jean Paul Fleri Soler (boardsailing).
The results obtained were rather disappointing. In athletics, Deirdre Caruana took part in the 100m and 200m while Carol Galea participated in the 800m and 1500m. Jean Paul Fleri Soler finished in the 33rd place out of 44 boardsailers while Horace Micallef ended in the 30th place out of 54 shooters. In Judo, both Laurie Pace and Jason Trevisan were eliminated in first round.
Games of the XXVI Olympiad - 1996 Atlanta, USA
In the last edition of the games in Atlanta, Malta took part in five disciplines - Athletics, Judo, Sailing, Shooting and Swimming. The athletes were Carol Galea and Mario Bonello (athletics), Laurie Pace (judo), Andrew Wilson and John Tabone (sailing), Frans Pace (shooting) and Gail Rizzo (swimming). The best result was obtained by Frans Pace who finished the competition in the 20th place out of 52.
Laurie Pace took part for the second time in Judo losing her two fights. One of Malta's highest hopes, Carol Galea took part in the Women's Marathon. However due to some problems she did not finish the race. The other athlete, Mario Bonello took part in the 100m. Andrew Wilson placed 38th out of 46 in board sailing while John Tabone finished in the 41st place out of 56 competitors in the Laser class. For the first time, Malta took part in swimming thanks to Gail Rizzo. She took part in the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 50m freestyle. In the 100m backstroke, she was second in her heat while in the 50m freestyle she was fourth in her heat. However these results were not enough for her to qualify.
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