Malta World Junior team - Twin sisters Francesca and Martina Xuereb with Owen Camilleri (© Paul Grech)
If the Olympics are the target for every senior athlete this season, then the World Junior Championships have to be the main target for every young athlete. They are what signals both their progress and potential, the venue from which a number of future stars will undoubtedly emerge.
It is no different for Maltese athletes as a team of three athletes – twin sisters Francesca and Martina Xuereb along with Owen Camilleri – have made the trip to Bydgoszcz in Poland for these championships.
The sight of Francesca and Martina in international competitions has become a fairly regular one. Both tend to be regulars in the Maltese national squad.
They both made history last year at the World Youth Championships becoming the first Maltese athletes to make it through the heats at an international level championship where Francesca went on to finish 8th overall with Martina in 9th place, both in the 400m.
“The world youth was an experience that I surely will never forget,” Francesca says. “It was my first world championships, which makes the level even better. It being a youth championships makes you feel more confident as you are competing against athletes of your own age.”
So too Martina. “The World youth is an unforgettable experience because firstly it was the first ‘Worlds’ for me. Nobody can take off my mind the sudden urge I felt to race as soon as we arrived there and the excitement I felt. Neither can I erase the happiness and satisfaction that I felt when I did a PB and placed 9th overall after barely qualifying for the semi-finals.”
This season hasn’t been as positive as they had hoped. “so far I am not yet satisfied with my time as I am one second away from my PB,” is Martina’s view. “I think this year was not an easy one mostly due to changes in the school timetable – meaning longer hours - but this does not mean that I did not do my best to train hard and achieve my aims”. Francesca is less downcast.
For them, this makes the World Junior Championships all the more important, even though Francesca shies away from disclosing any particular targets.
“I hope that the competition there will give me enough motivation to run a good race and get a good result, while hopefully improving my time. I hope that this is a good experience that will come in handy in two years time when I could take part in these championships once again.”
Improvement is the key aim for Martina. “I am expecting to do a good performance which will lead to a PB as there I will compete with different athletes, not only my sister but most of all I aim to enjoy myself and make the most of it so that I will be well prepared and learn from my own mistakes.”
The situation is completely different for Owen Camilleri who will be making the trip with them. A late starter to the sport – he only started training seriously some three years back – he’s been making massive strides ahead.
This season has been his breakthrough year, one during which he became the fourth ever Maltese athlete to go under twenty two seconds in the 200m. “My aim for the season was to bring my time down to 22.3s or 22.2s so it was quite a feat for me to lower it to 21.99.”
Throughout the year he has also been constantly challenging two of the greats of local athletics, Mario Bonello and Nikolai Portelli, both of whom favour the same distance. “It helps a lot,” he says about having such tough competition. “You feel the difference when you’re competing against them. In particular for me it was an honour to beat Mario Bonellos because he’s an athlete you have to look up to for all that he’s achieved and won.”
“My relationship with the both of them is very good. We often talk, even about training. I’ve got a lot of respect for them and I think that they feel the same about me.”
A member of the Maltese squad that took part in the European Cup a couple of weeks back, Camilleri admits that he wasn’t too pleased with his results yet admits that the experience will serve him well. “Mentally, it gives you an indication of what you’re going to come across in major championships. I know what I did wrong and will do my utmost to avoid those mistakes.”
Starting from the World Junior Championships. “I’m hopeful that I will set a good result. I’m looking to lower my personal best and aiming to break the national junior record even if the 21.82s is quite a difficult objective.”
Paul Grech for the IAAF
