Making Malta proud! Luke Micallef scores first gold medal at the Balkan Championships Marathon
Competing in high temperatures the athlete fought off a strong opponent line-up.
Luke Micallef has just claimed the top spot and won Malta its first gold medal at the Balkan Championships Marathon, held in Belgrade.
Fresh from his impressive silver on the Half Marathon a fortnight ago, Luke Micallef improved and managed to claim top spot in the Balkan Championship Marathon.
In a hot day in the Serbian capital, Micallef fought off the challenge of two strong Turkish marathoners in an uphill finish to claim the win in 2:26:38, ahead of Selim Seven (2:27:04).
The Belgrade Marathon was won by Kenya’s Gilbert Chumba (2:11:48) ahead of Gilbert Cheruyot (02:12:20).
While Micallef finished the Marathon in fourth place overall, he still won gold for Malta, being the first athlete competing in the Balkan Championships to cross the line.
This was quite an impressive feat considering the line-up of strong athletes from central and Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, Athletics Malta, in a sweet post on Facebook, congratulated Micallef, while many others commended and praised the Maltese athlete on such a prestigious accomplishment.