Today (30) sees the start of the athletics competition at the 19th edition of the Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE). Held in Malta, the biennial multi-sport event brings together athletes from nine small European sovereign states.
Open to athletes from European countries with less than a million inhabitants, those competing include athletes from Malta, Iceland, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Montenegro, Andorra, Monaco, Luxembourg and Cyprus (which had a population of less than one million when the Games originated in 1985).
The Games is usually held in late May or early June and includes all the festivities associated with multi-sport competitions like the Olympic Games, starting with the Opening Ceremony, which was held yesterday evening (29).
Athletics is one of the core sports of the Games and is held on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday this week. In total, over 1,000 athletes will compete in 10 sports between 29 May and 3 June.
For some, the Games will provide a useful opportunity to test themselves in championship conditions ahead of the European Athletics Team Championships, which takes place in Silesia from 20-25 June and forms part of the European Games 2023 (tickets are now on sale).
A steppingstone to Silesia
In the Games’ history, Cyprus is the most successful team in terms of medals, narrowly ahead of Luxembourg. But the Luxembourg team will be bringing some of the biggest names to Malta, including Bob Bertemes in the shot put.
Bertemes finished fifth in the European Athletics Indoor Championships on three occasions and was the silver medallist at this year’s European Throwing Cup in Leiria, Portugal.
Joining Bertemes in team Luxembourg will be Tokyo 2020 Olympic finalist Charles Grethen in the 1500m. The five-time national champion also finished fifth in the 3000m at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul in March.
Another standout athlete, Andorra’s Nahuel Carabana, is the clear favourite in the 3000m steeplechase. The European Athletics U23 Championships bronze medallist from Tallinn 2021 has a best of 8:32.03, which is also the Andorran record.
On the women’s side, Luxembourgish record holder in the 100m and 200m Patrizia van der Weken reached the semi-final at the European Athletics Championships in Munich last year as well as in Istanbul and is entered in both events in Malta. However, she might not have it all her own way, with Cypriot Olivia Fotopoulou – who has a best of 22.99 – also going in the 200m.
A springboard for age group championships and beyond
Many athletes will also be using the Games to achieve entry standards for the upcoming Espoo 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships and Jerusalem 2023 European Athletics U20 Championships, as well as the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
Maltese record holder Jeremy Zammit finished top eight at the Nairobi 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships and goes in the long jump, while his teammate and bronze medallist in last year’s European Youth Olympic Festival, 17-year-old Matthew Galea Soler, will contest the 400m.
Meanwhile, Cypriot Valentina Savva, who won gold in the European Athletics U18 Championships last year, is the leading entry in the women’s hammer. She will no doubt be pushed all the way by her teammate and fellow junior athlete Emilia Kolokotroni, who has a personal best of 63.55m, less than two metres shy of Savva’s 65.23m. Both achieved their bests in the last couple of months and come into the competition on top form.
Nick Howard for European Athletics