Malta (MLT)

Malta formed a National Olympic Committee (NOC) on 7 June 1928, and first competed at the Olympic Games in the same year. It has participated rather sporadically since then, missing the Olympic Games of 1932, 1952, 1956, 1964, and 1976.

Malta’s top Olympic moment occurred in 1928 when its water polo team won one match, defeating Luxembourg 3-1, before losing to France in the second round. This placed it equal fifth, of a starting field of 14 teams. Also remarkable is William Chetcuti who finished eighth in double trap shooting in 2008 and also finished ninth in this event in both 2004 and 2012. The only other top 10 finish by a Maltese athlete happened in 1984, when sailor Peter Bonello finished ninth in the windsurfing event.

In 2014, they competed for the first time at the Olympic Winter Games with Alpine skier Élise Pellegrin, and she competed again in 2018. Pellegrin skied slalom and giant slalom at both Games, with a best finish of 42nd among 85 competitors in the 2014 slalom. As would be expected, she carried the Maltese flag at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies in 2014 and 2018. Malta has not yet had a male Winter Olympian, one of only five nations to be represented at the Olympic Winter Games by women only (along with the Honduras, Paraguay, Singapore, and Togo).