Malta at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
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{{Use British English|date=July 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{infobox country at games
| NPC = MLT
| NPCname = Malta Paralympic Committee
| games = Summer Paralympics
| year = 2012
| flagcaption =
| oldcode =
| website = {{url|www.paralympic.mt }}
| location = London
| competitors = 1
| sports = 1
| flagbearer = Matthew Sultana
| rank =
| gold = 0
| silver = 0
| bronze = 0
| officials =
| appearances = auto
| app_begin_year =
| app_end_year =
| summerappearances =
| winterappearances =
| seealso =
}}
Malta sent a delegation to compete at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012. This was the country's eighth appearance in a Summer Paralympic Games. The Maltese delegation consisted of a single short-distance swimmer: Matthew Sultana. In his three events, the men's 50 metres freestyle S10, the men's 100 metre butterfly S10 and the men's 100 metre breaststroke SB9, he failed to qualify beyond the first round.
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Background
Malta debuted in the Paralympic movement at the 1960 Summer Paralympics. Excepting the period between 1988 and 2004, the island country had participated in eight Summer Paralympic Games and medalled a total of seven times in athletics, lawn bowls, snooker and table tennis.{{Cite web|url=https://www.paralympic.org/sdms4/hira/web/country/malta|title=Malta at the Paralympic Games|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727175835/https://www.paralympic.org/sdms4/hira/web/country/malta|archive-date=27 July 2019|access-date=27 July 2019}} The 2012 Summer Paralympics were held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 with a total of 4,237 athletes representing 164 National Paralympic Committees.{{Cite web|url=https://www.topendsports.com/events/paralympics/hosts/2012-london.htm|title=2012 London Paralympic Games|last=Wood|first=Robert|date=2012|publisher=Topend Sports Website|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727193318/https://www.topendsports.com/events/paralympics/hosts/2012-london.htm|archive-date=27 July 2019|access-date=27 July 2019}} Matthew Sultana, a short-distance swimmer, was the sole athlete to represent Malta at the London Summer Paralympics;{{Cite news|url=http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2012-07-08/others/maltese-swimmer-matthew-sultana-for-paralympic-games-312733/|title=Maltese Swimmer Matthew Sultana for Paralympic Games|date=8 July 2012|work=The Malta Independent|access-date=27 July 2019|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727173555/http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2012-07-08/others/maltese-swimmer-matthew-sultana-for-paralympic-games-312733/|archive-date=27 July 2019}} he was chosen as the country's flag bearer for the parade of nations during the opening ceremony.{{Cite web|url=https://www.paralympic.org/news/list-opening-ceremony-flag-bearers|title=List of Opening Ceremony flag bearers|date=29 August 2012|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525204709/https://www.paralympic.org/news/list-opening-ceremony-flag-bearers|archive-date=25 May 2019|access-date=27 July 2019}} He and his coach Ebi Mohammadpour travelled to London on 30 August.{{Cite news|url=https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/Heat-is-on-for-young-Paralympic-swimmer.434879|title=Heat is on for young Paralympic swimmer|last=Ameen|first=Juan|date=30 August 2012|work=The Times of Malta|access-date=27 July 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727173259/https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/Heat-is-on-for-young-Paralympic-swimmer.434879|archive-date=27 July 2019}} Marathon runner Derren Fenech met the minimum qualifying standards for his event; a number of athletes who had times lower than three hours created an upper limit on participants and forced him to withdraw.
Disability classification
{{main|Disability sport classification}}
Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories: amputation, which may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, though there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; and Les autres, which is any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, like dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/03/2354016.htm?site=paralympics/2008|title=Paralympics categories explained|last=McGarry|first=Andrew|date=3 September 2008|publisher=ABC|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912225056/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/03/2354016.htm?site=paralympics%2F2008|archive-date=12 September 2008|access-date=25 December 2015|df=dmy-all}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics2000/paralympics/959701.stm|title=Making sense of the categories|date=6 October 2000|access-date=25 December 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528052125/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics2000/paralympics/959701.stm|archive-date=28 May 2008|publisher=BBC Sport|df=dmy-all}} Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as athletics, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities. Other sports, for example swimming, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/disability_sport/7586684.stm|title=A-Z of Paralympic classification|date=28 August 2008|access-date=25 December 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301172843/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/disability_sport/7586684.stm|archive-date=1 March 2009|publisher=BBC Sport|df=dmy-all}}
Swimming
At the time of the London Paralympics Matthew Sultana was 15 years old and was the only athlete to compete for Malta. He attained qualification to the Games by winning three age-group medals at an international meet in Berlin. Sultana has an upper limb deformity, and is classified S10 by the International Paralympic Committee. He trained with the non-government organisation Inspire for two and a half years and entered a classification race on 28 August to enable his participation. Sultana said his young age was unimportant and he entered the Paralympics to improve his personal best, "I want to shave off one second to 29 seconds in the 50m freestyle and possibly finish the 100m butterfly race in 1.20 or 1.19 instead of the present 1.24. I am here and it’s more than enough. I want to continue training to be ready for the next Paralympics in four years’ time."
On 31 August, he competed in the men's 50 metres freestyle S10 competition and was assigned to take part in heat two.{{Cite web|url=https://www.paralympic.org/sdms4/hira/web/results/london-2012/swimming/mens-50-m-freestyle-s10|title=Swimming at the London 2012 Paralympic Games – Men's 50 m Freestyle S10 – Results|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727193328/https://www.paralympic.org/sdms4/hira/web/results/london-2012/swimming/mens-50-m-freestyle-s10|archive-date=27 July 2019|access-date=27 July 2019}} Sultana completed the heat in seventh place in a new personal best time of 31.12 seconds.{{Cite news|url=https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/Paralympic-swimmer-improves-personal-best.435136|title=Paralympic swimmer improves personal best|last=Ameen|first=Juan|date=31 August 2012|work=The Times of Malta|access-date=27 July 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727173305/https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/Paralympic-swimmer-improves-personal-best.435136|archive-date=27 July 2019}} This put him 21st (and last) overall and he did not qualify for the final—the eight overall fastest swimmers made that stage of the competition. Sultana took part in the men's 100 metre butterfly S10 event the following day, being drawn into heat three. He finished the race in a time of 1 minute and 16.94 seconds and placed eighth in his heat. As only the top eight overall finishers could advance to the final, Sultana was eliminated from the competition.{{Cite web|url=https://www.paralympic.org/sdms4/hira/web/results/london-2012/swimming/mens-100-m-butterfly-s10|title=Swimming at the London 2012 Summer Paralympics – Men's 100 m Butterfly S10 – Results|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727193316/https://www.paralympic.org/sdms4/hira/web/results/london-2012/swimming/mens-100-m-butterfly-s10|archive-date=27 July 2019|access-date=27 July 2019}} On 8 September, he participated in the men's 100 metre breaststroke SB9 contest. Sultana was drawn into heat two and completed the race in sixth position in a time of 1 minute and 36.89 seconds. His competition ended since he was slowest overall and only the top eight swimmers progressed to the final.{{Cite web|url=https://www.paralympic.org/sdms4/hira/web/results/london-2012/swimming/mens-100-m-breaststroke-sb9|title=Swimming at the London 2012 Paralympic Games – Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB9 – Results|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727193316/https://www.paralympic.org/sdms4/hira/web/results/london-2012/swimming/mens-100-m-breaststroke-sb9|archive-date=27 July 2019|access-date=27 July 2019}}
=Men=
| class=wikitable style="font-size:90%" |
| rowspan="2"|Athletes
!rowspan="2"|Event !colspan="2"|Heat !colspan="2"|Final |
|---|
| scope="col"| Time
! scope="col"| Rank ! scope="col"| Time ! scope="col"| Rank |
| align=center
|align=left rowspan=3|Matthew Sultana |align=left|50m freestyle S10 |31.12 PB |20 |
| align=center
|align=left|100m breaststroke SB9 |1:36.89 |16 |
| align=center
|align=left|100m butterfly S10 |1:16.94 |21 |