Swimmers Andrew Chetcuti, Sasha Gatt book Tokyo 2020 berths

Swimmers Andrew Chetcuti and Sasha Gatt have become the latest athletes to book their place at the Tokyo Olympics when, as Malta’s highest-ranked swimmers, they were awarded Universality places based upon FINA points achieved.

 Chetcuti, who will be representing Malta at the Olympics for the third consecutive time will compete in the 100m Freestyle.

His first appearance was during the 2012 Olympics in London, while he also represented the country in Rio four years later.

Sixteen-year-old Sasha Gatt will be making her first appearance at the Games and will be the youngest Maltese athlete to compete at such level. She will be competing in the 400m and 1,500m events.

Earlier on this year, Gatt qualified for the Games after obtaining the Olympic B Standard in Malta when she clocked a time of 17:00.28, just 21 seconds off the A Standard.

Universality places are reserved for National Olympic Committees whose top athletes did not achieve an Olympic Qualifying time.

NOCs can nominate a male and female athlete provided they are approved by FINA to compete.

“As we get closer to the Games, Team Malta is slowly building up. It is satisfying to see the contingent made up of a mixture of experienced Olympians and athletes who are experiencing the Olympics for the first time,” said Julian Pace Bonello, president of the Maltese Olympic Committee.

The Maltese contingent is also made up of Matthew Abela (Badminton), Eleanor Bezzina (shooting), and Yazmin Zammit Stevens (weightlifting).

The Maltese Olympic Committee hopes to announce some more names in the coming days as they look to complete their line-up for the Tokyo Games.