Youngster Gabriel Farrugia has continued to impress in his performances abroad, this time obtaining the highest Maltese placing in the European Cross Country Championships.

While competing in Brussels, he completed the race in just over 18 minutes, beating athletes from some 19 nations with far more experience in cross country running, including Austria, Italy, Portugal, Germany and Turkey.

Farrugia placed 64th, making it the highest ranking by a Maltese athlete in the European Championships.

He was part of a Maltese delegation that took part in this continental event, an important experience in tough running conditions to which local athletes are not routinely exposed to, including grass, mud and other natural obstacles offered by the Laeken Park in the Belgian capital.

Malta’s delegates were competing among almost 600 athletes from 38 different European nations.

Among the men, a strong performance was also delivered by Gozitan athlete David Borg, who ran the Under 23 race, over 7km, in 27:14.

In the men’s open event, Malta Champion Luke Micallef confirmed his dominance in this speciality over 9km, classifying as best Maltese, in a time of 34:12, ahead of Shaun Galea and Charlton Debono.

The open race was won by Frenchman Yann Schrub ahead of Norway’s Magnus Tuv Myhre. The Maltese trio contributed to a final classification of 13th place for the Maltese team.

Among the women, Lisa Bezzina and Rachel Borg placed 54th and 55th respectively in a race which saw the participation of many top female runners, with Norwegian Karoline Grovdal taking gold ahead of Italian Nadia Battocletti.

Sport Malta and the Malta Olympic Committee supported Athletics Malta to ensure Malta’s participation at this event.

Well done Team Malta!