Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1269236
6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 15 JULY 2020 NEWS Maltese deaf athlete's national record went unrecognised for 16 years DEAFLYMPIAN athlete George Vella has been recognised for es- tablishing a Maltese national re- cord in the 800m indoor race for deaf athletes, 16 years after the record went unnoticed. The Malta Paralympic Com- mittee (MPC) vice-president was finally recognised by the Malta Amateur Athletics As- sociation (MAAA) as having established an indoor nation- al record for the 800m race in 2004, a record which remained unbroken for sixteen years. A younger George Vella, one of the most prominent 800m athletes in those times, had ventured to Sofia, Bulgaria to compete in the European Deaf Indoors Championships in 2004. "Back then not many Maltese athletes heard of indoor athlet- ic events, let alone competed. Any athlete will tell you that running indoors is a totally different experience to that of outdoors," MAAA president Andry Grech said. Vella put on an excellent per- formance on his first journey out and ran a time national re- cord best of 2 minutes and 4.87 seconds. This record stood for close to 16 years, after Benja- min Micallef broke it earlier this year. Since then Vella has gone on to represent Malta in sever- al other deaf events. Now also vice-president of the Maltese paralympic committee, Vella is carrying out administrative duties in the hope that future para-athletes never have to face the hardship of waiting 16 years for their results to be rec- ognised. "Unfortunately, George had to wait 16 years for his result to be recognized, but this situ- ation is a thing of the past. We are very lucky to have an indi- vidual like George to guide us wherever and whenever local athletes and para athletes need help," Grech said. Prof. Joseph Grima, President of MPC, said that the Maltese paralympic community was truly honoured to have a top athlete such as George Vella as one of its top-ranking offi- cials. "George has shown, time and time again, his exceptional abilities as an outstanding ath- lete and as a true gentleman. MPC also acknowledges the manner how, in recent weeks, MAAA, together with MPC, is developing Para Athletics. Both national entities will en- deavour to continue working together to support Malta's para athletes in their quest to train and compete at the high- est levels." SCIENCE in the City will be back in Mal- ta's capital Valletta not in September, but on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th No- vember 2020. The new dates for this fes- tival has been set by the European Com- mission, to have more time to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The University of Malta's consortium has successfully won the Horizon 2020 European Researchers Night Fund. The ninth edition will host over 30 activities spread around Valletta's iconic Triton Square, City Gate, Parlia- ment Square, Spazju Kreattiv and il-Mu- za, the Fine Arts Museum. Centred around the theme "Engage, Empower, Enable", this year's attempts to deal with the virus has resulted in an exciting new outlook for the festi- val. The festival will be a hybrid. Most of the activities held in Valletta will al- so be digitised allowing the festival to reach new online audiences. The event endeavours to engage its audience in- novatively with science and the arts, in an attempt to empower citizens with creative thinking skills and enable them to become free thinking active citizens. The event, part of the EU-wide cele- bration, European Researchers' Night, funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions of the EU's H2020 Programme, has been recognised as an excellent fes- tival by Europe for Festivals and Festi- vals for Europe (EFFE). Festival Coordinator Dr Edward Duca explains that: "For the past eight years, the festival's fundamental aim has been to engage people emotionally and intel- lectually through a fusion of science and the arts. The festival strives to do more, by introducing creativity, critique and analysis, as well as the trend of Respon- sible Research and Innovation (RRI) among researchers and citizens. RRI is about bringing industry, government, citizens, NGOs and researchers togeth- er to help tackle the issues of society. To do this we need your help." "Most of all, we hope young people are inspired to think critically and that this will encourage them to consider a ca- reer in Science, Technology, Engineer- ing, Arts and Maths (STEAM). Do join us in celebrating the Science in the City festival, you are a crucial component in our experiment." Science in the City Manager, Karen Fiorini added: "This year the festival will be unlike any other. As COVID-19 continues to overshadow our future by throwing a blanket of uncertainty onto our plans, we have decided to hold the event on both Friday 27th and Satur- day 28th November and to digitise the festival, as much as possible. This will give everyone a chance to join us with- out crowding over 30,000 people into the city on one night. Having an online presence will help with social distancing and allow the festival to happen even if we are forced back into self-isolation. Do visit our facebook page later on this summer to see how we plan to do this." The Science in the City consortium is led by the University of Malta and the Malta Chamber of Scientists, in part- nership with the Ministry for Finance and the Parliamentary Secretariat for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation, MCAST, Esplora, BPC International, MEUSAC, PBS, Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta Local Council, Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector, More or Less Theatre, and Kreattiv of the Malta Arts Council. Regular updates will be posted on the festival's Facebook page www.facebook. com/ScienceInTheCityMalta Science in the City is back in Valletta in November