Rachid Chouhal equalled his best performance of the season during the preliminary round of the 100 metres at the Olympic Stadium, in London, yesterday.

Starting from the second lane in Heat Four, the 37-year-old dashed home fourth in 10.83 seconds to equal his season best timing for the sprint distance which he clocked at this year’s National Championships at Marsa.

His time, however, was 0.29 of a second slower than the national record which belongs to Darren Gilford – 10.54.

Burkina Faso’s Gerrard Kobeane won Heat Four in 10.42 seconds, the fastest time in the preliminary round yesterday morning. Fabrice Coiffic, of Mauritius, was second in 10.62 ahead of St Vincent’s Courtney Williams in 10.80.

Chouhal finished ahead of Nepal’s Tilak Tharu (10.85), Afghan sprinter Massoud Azizi (11.19), Kiribati’s Nooa Takooa (11.53) and Patrick Tuara (11.72), of Cook Islands.

Chouhal failed to progress as he only managed the 12th fastest time from the 29 preliminary round starters. The top ten moved to the first round where the likes of Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Asafa Powell made their first showing in the 100m race. Meanwhile, Chouhal’s race brought to an end Malta’s participation in the Games.

In London, the country was represented in three sport with much of the focus falling on shooter William Chetcuti. On Thursday, he missed out on a place in the Double Trap final after placing ninth overall.

In swimming, Andrew Chetcuti bettered his own national record in the 100m freestyle while Nicola Muscat took part in the 50 metres freestyle.

Track sprinter Diane Borg did well to progress to the first round of the 100m women’s race on Friday but was unable to progress further despite clocking a season best of 11.92 seconds.