SHAUN GALEA & CELINE PACE DECLARED TRIATHLETES OF THE YEAR 2017 FOR THE FIRST TIME

The Malta Triathlon Federation brought to a conclusion an exciting 2017 multisport season some weeks ago. As always, the last anticipate title on the line is that of the Triathlete Of The Year (TOTY) points scheme. This system is aimed at awarding all athletes who took part in all the multisport events organised or sanctioned by the Federation during the season by points according to their classification in any given event. This therefore lay a strong emphasise on consistency throughout the season.

The 2017 calendar of multisport events consisted of 13 different events raging from sprint distance triathlons, to aquathlons, to duathlons and culminating in the National Triathlon Championships of last October. The final TOTY classification was rated on the best 9 points for each athlete, making this a hard-fought competition between athletes at all levels.

In the Male category, it was young star Shaun Galea who topped the series, claiming his first ever TOTY title, while claiming also the First Place in the Under 20 category. The strength of the younger generation was also evident in second place won by Neil Markham, improving on his third place from 2016. Markham also topped the Under 23 Category. In third place came Nicholas Bilocca for the first time on the podium of this classification after a very consistent season, while also winning the Over 40 category.
 
In the female category it was newcomer Celine Pace who took the honour and was declared Triathlete of the Year for the first time while also winning the Over 30 title. Margaret Seguna finished second overall and first in the over 35, after a strong season. Youngster Anjelika Ruggier won the third place overall and first Under 23 in the females category.
 
In a statement, Cyprian Dalli, President of the Malta Triathlon Federation congratulated all the winners and thanked all particpants of the various multisport races in Malta for yet another full and exciting season. Dalli also thanked the race organisers, the affiliated Clubs, race marshals and helpers whose valuable back-stage work make the races and events possible and help keep the local triathlon community alive with the numerous multisport events throughout the year.