Track and field para-athlete Thomas Borg, who is a 2nd year Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Sport and Physical Activity at IPES, will be representing Malta at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, where he will be competing in the T47 100-metre and 400-metre categories. The T47 classification consists of athletes with a below elbow or wrist amputation. Borg is the first Maltese athlete to compete in the Paralympics whilst undergoing a Bachelor degree at the University of Malta.
Thomas participated at the European Para Athletics Championships (June 2021) and recorded a PB of 12.4s in the 100m T47 event, he aims to achieve another PB at the Paralympics.
The para athlete was born with an underdeveloped right arm, nevertheless he has been an active athlete from a very young age. Prof Joseph Grima praises Thomas as a very versatile athlete and he is persuaded that he has a bright future ahead.
The Tokyo Paralympics 2020 are just a few weeks away, with Malta sending two Paralympians to the competition for the first time since 1980. Borg will be competing on 27 August (100m) and 3 September (400m). The Malta Paralympics Committee Facebook Page will be updated with the dates and times of the specific competitions.
Expressing his gratitude at this opportunity, Borg said: "I always felt that my greatest asset is not my physical ability, it is my mental ability. I am very motivated by studies and I would like to specialize in Para sport in the future.” I am thankful to benefit from the student athlete scheme which helps me balance my studies and my training as well as the full support I receive from IPES, my coach, Kevin Galea and the Paralympic committee.”
Borg is referring to the free service of an in-house professional sport psychologist available to all University students who are also athletes, and who are registered on the University’s Student Athlete Support Programme (SASP). This is possible thanks to a collaboration with the Secretariat for Youth, Sport and Voluntary Organisations.
Vladyslava Kravchenko, a 29-year-old Maltese para-athlete swimmer, will be joining Thomas Borg in Tokyo 2021. Ms Kravchenko is undergoing her studies in Sports Management at the esteemed Loughborough University (UK) and is also a casual lecturer at IPES. She will be competing in the S5 50m butterfly and S5 50m backstroke events.
Upon reiterating the obligation to support Parathletes, Prof. Joseph N. Grima, the President of the Maltese Paralympic committee, stated that “ We are very proud to have more than one athlete representing Malta in the Paralympic games for the first time. This year the competition was really tough and all the athletes worked really hard. Grima continues to say that “the best part of sport is the sense of community, that the athletes feel part of something bigger, as sports brings people together.”
Present at the Press Conference was Dr Julian Bajada, the secretary general of the Maltese Paralympic Committee and a para-athlete himself active in various parasport disciplines. He commended this year’s very strong team who have been performing phenomenally. “Despite the challenges we are facing with COVID-19 restrictions and the constantly changing protocols we maintained a positive mindset, a strong team spirit and we are ready to give our best in Tokyo'', he said.
Prof. Grima concluded by saying that “Parasport should not be a 'secondary' or 'sideline' aspect of the local sporting scene - clubs and sports associations should be incentivised to develop parasports as a core pillar of their sporting discipline. As a Committee, we are working on raising awareness and knowledge on para sports through educational programmes (such as the official I'MPossible Programme) to break the barriers that para sports face."
