All geared up for Games in high Pyrenees altitude

The 11th Games of the Small States of Europe get underway this evening with the opening ceremony at the Andorra la Vella city stadium.

Over 1,000 athletes and officials from the eight participating countries will march in the opening day parade which will see Andorra's Episcopal co-prince Joan Enric Vives officially declaring the Games open.

Most of the 64 athletes in the Malta contingent have already acclimatised themselves with the conditions in Andorra as they've reached destination days in advance.

With the nation pocketed between the Spanish and French borders, high in the Pyrenees mountains, the altitude factor was taken into serious consideration by the technical sector within the MOC.

The final group of athletes and officials, headed by Malta Olympic Committee president Lino Farrugia Sacco and secretary Joe Cassar, left the islands yesterday on board an Alitalia flight that took them to Barcelona via Milan. Andorra is approximately three hours away by car from the Catalan city.

Several distinguished guests are expected to attend the opening ceremony today including royal family members from Monaco, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg.

International Olympic Committee president, Jacques Rogge, will also be in the VIP stand. As in previous editions, he is expected to deliver a welcoming speech after the athletes' parade and before the late night variety show takes centre stage.

Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco and chef-de-mission Pippo Psaila will march in front of the Maltese athletes.

Double Trap shooter William Chetcuti will be our flagbearer. In 2003, Tanya Blake carried the Malta flag at the parade in Ta' Qali. This time, the middle distance GSSE gold medallist is not in the athletics selection.

Over 325 medals will be at stake in Andorra. The ten sport to be contested are athletics, basketball, cycling, judo, shooting, swimming, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis and volleyball.

Iceland, leaders of the all-time GSSE medals list, Cyprus and Luxembourg are again favourites to scoop most of the medals.

Andorra are lagging behind in the statistics since the first Games in 1985. However, the partisan crowd should spur the host nation to a better result than the one of 2003.

On that occasion, the Andorrans returned home with four gold, six silver and eight bronze medals. This time they are fielding twice the number of participants they had in Malta - 132.

Meanwhile, a repeat of the impressive performance and the 44-medal haul of the GSSE 2003 is highly improbable for the Maltese.

In Andorra, the MOC has one of the smallest contingents ever in the Games. Besides, we will not field any athletes in either beach volleyball, mountain bike and volleyball.

Squash and sailing, two sport that gathered rich dividends for the Maltese two years ago, were omitted by the Andorra organisers.

But hopes are still high that we can match the seven gold medals won in San Marino in 2001. That was Malta's best ever performance on foreign soil. This contingent may look thin but it's full of quality and talent, contended MOC Director of Sport in an interview published in last weekend's The Sunday Times.

Andorra GSSE 2005 info...

The hosts
Andorra is one of the smallest nations in Europe and has been an independent state for more than ten centuries.

The entire country makes up part of the Pyrenees and a cultural crossroad between Mediterranean countries. The population has multiplied by eight in 50 years, going from 8,000 inhabitants to 67,000.

Eleven million tourists visit Andorra each year.

Andorra has been part of the International Olympic Committee family ever since 1975.

The mascot
Bagaleu, the mascot of the Andorra 2005 Games of the Small States of Europe, is a friendly owl designed by 15-year-old Eva Tadeo.

It was launched during the Andorra la Vella Trade Fair in 2004.

Since the start of the bi-annual Games in 1985, all eight participating countries have hosted the GSSE at least once.

Andorra will be the third country to play hosts for the second time behind San Marino and Malta.

The theme song
Pep Sala is the author of the music and lyrics of 'The Flame in the Hands', the theme song of the 2005 GSSE.

The song will be performed by home singer Estefania Alimbau during the opening ceremony today.

The participants
Andorra organisers said they will host 793 athletes during the six-day mini-Olympic event.

That is slightly higher than the 765 of Malta 2003.

If confirmed the number of participants this year is a GSSE record.

Athletes in Andorra
Cyprus - 150; Andorra - 132; Iceland - 120; Luxembourg - 118; San Marino - 94; Monaco - 76; Malta - 64; Liechtenstein - 37.