Gibraltar athletes struggle for placings at European Challenger Championships

Gibraltar was represented this past week at the European Challenger Championships held at the Stade Louis II in Monaco, coinciding with the Athletics Small States of Europe meeting.

The Gibraltar team, made up mainly of runners competing in the 100m, 200m and 400m events, whilst also participating in the shot put, consisted solely of male athletes, with no female participation across any of the events.

They competed against athletes representing nations such as San Marino, Malta, Cyprus, Moldova, Georgia, Albania, Luxembourg, Iceland, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Armenia, Kosovo, Azerbaijan and Andorra. Athletes from France, Italy, Great Britain and Spain were also present due to their eligibility through member territories.

Gibraltar was not to fare too well in the standings, finishing in the lower positions across all events. In the shot put, Gibraltar finished just above the last-placed athlete, with a similar outcome in the 400m.

In both the 100m and 200m, Gibraltar athletes occupied the final two places in their respective races.

Notably, Gibraltar had no female representation at the championships.

With athlete Ella Rush now eligible to represent Gibraltar, her presence may have provided stronger competition against some of the leading territories. Her recent performances in similar events have produced times comparable to those of event winners. In some cases, personal bests achieved only weeks ago were better than the winning performances recorded in Monaco.

RESULTS

Men's 100m

Francesco Sansovini (San Marino) – 10.62
Omar El Aida Chaffey (Malta) – 10.74
Stavros Avgoustinou (Cyprus) – 10.75

Gibraltar:
6. Pau Funes – Heat 3 – 11.52
7. Sean Penalver – Heat 3 – 11.88

Men's 200m

Graham Pellegrini (Malta) – 21.37
Kolbeinn Höður Gunnarsson (Iceland) – 21.94
Andro Grigoryan (Georgia) – 22.03

Gibraltar:
4. Pau Funes – Heat 3 – 23.05
5. Sean Penalver – Heat 3 – 23.92

Men's 400m

Franko Burraj (Albania) – 46.45
Pavlos Nikolaou (Cyprus) – 46.75
Ivan Galuşco (Moldova) – 47.40

Gibraltar:
3. Luka Desoiza – Heat 3 – 50.92

Men's Shot Put

Giorgi Mujaridze (Georgia) – 19.48m
Alexandr Mazur (Moldova) – 19.40m
Tomaš Đurović (Montenegro) – 18.94m

Gibraltar:
11. Julian Turnock – 10.62m

Full Gibraltar performances

100m
Pau Funes – 11.52
Sean Penalver – 11.88

200m
Pau Funes – 23.05
Sean Penalver – 23.92

400m
Luka Desoiza – 50.92

Shot Put
Julian Turnock – 10.62m