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Malta’s Paralympic Coaches Set High Expectations For Athletes Heading To Tokyo, But Medals Are A Stretch

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A lot is to be expected for Malta’s contingent heading to the Paralympic Games in Tokyo later this month.

But bringing home a medal is somewhat of a stretch, especially when you consider that coaches aren’t able to commit full-time to training athletes and para-athletes. 

“Unfortunately, in Malta, coaching is still something that is hard to do as a full-time job,” Kevin Galea, who has been coaching para-athlete Thomas Borg in the run-up to the Paralympic Games, told Lovin Malta.

“Things have changed a lot since I’ve started coaching, we’ve seen improvements but I think there’s a lot that needs to be done,” he said. 

Malta will send two para-athletes to the Paralympics; track and field athlete Thomas Borg and swimmer Vladyslava Kravchenko. Both will be vying for the very best, with ambitions to smash personal and national records. 

Vladyslava Kravchenko

Vladyslava Kravchenko

“It looks like things are getting better,” Kravchenko’s coach, Edward Caruana Dingli, told Lovin Malta. “The number of coaches working full time is growing. Whereas 10 years ago there were two or three full-time coaches, there is now around one per club,” he said.

Caruana Dingli noted how the situation isn’t ideal as it is for local athletes and para-athletes, but was optimistic about the growing opportunities for coaches to get qualified abroad and bring their newly-acquired expertise back home.

The Paralympic Games will kick off on August 24th with Kravchenko first representing Malta on 27th followed by Borg later on during the day.

Kravchenko will once again enter the pool on 30th August with Borg concluding Malta’s duties on 3rd September.

Thomas Borg

Thomas Borg

“We’re just tapering now, all the hard work and preparation has been done,” Galea continued.

“Vladyslava has done very well over the last few months and is swimming as fast as she did in Rio 2016, if not faster,” Caruana Dingli said. 

“The chances of her improving on her best time are big,” he said.

When asked about the challenges of coaching para-athletes, both coaches brushed off any concerns as negligible. 

“You need to make adaptations to fit the athlete’s body and style whether they have a disability or not,” Caruana Dingli said. “It has its challenges but no more than coaching any other athlete”. 

“I don’t see much difference between coaching an athlete and coaching a para-athlete,” Galea said. “There are certain adjustments that you have to make but when you train to compete at a high standard it needs to be very specific and individualised to that athlete,” he said. 

Malta’s Paralympians and coaches will also be accompanied by Chef de Mission, Julian Bajada. Tokyo 2020 will mark the first time since 190 that Malta is being represented by more than one Paralympian at the Games. 

However, the Malta Paralympic Committee believes that more support and commitment needs to be shown across the board for Malta to be able to send a consistent stream of para-athletes to the Games. 

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