Strong Russian and German teams

Germany and Russia have both underlined their faith in the validity of the European Winter Throwing Challenge by sending very strong teams to Malta. In fact, a significant number of athletes - particularly those hailing from the north of Europe - have decided to take advantage of the island's warm climate to step up their preparations for the coming season.

In all, over 190 athletes from 34 countries are expected to take part in the two-day event.

The German squad will include Steffi Nerius, third at last year's World Championships in javelin and fifth overall in the world rankings.

She will be in good company especially with the likes of Nadine Kleinert, fourth in the shot at last week's World Indoor Championships, and Franka Dietzsch (discus), sixth in the IAAF rankings last year.

In the hammer, Karsten Kobs is an athlete who can throw over 80 metres while Nicolay Christian can cover that same distance with a javelin. Last year, both were among the top ten in the world.

The German team will also feature promising throwers like Jana Tucholke, second in the discus at last year's European U-23 championships, Betty Heidler who at 21 is already one of the top ten hammer throwers in Europe, and Robert Harting who ended 2003 as the best junior discus thrower in Europe.

Natalya Sadova, the world's leading discus thrower and a gold medal hopeful at the Olympics, will be heading the Russian challenge. Yet, she will face a strong challenge, particularly from compatriot Olga Chernyavskaya.

The men's team will feature Ilya Konovalov who placed fourth last year in the hammer along with young shot thrower Antone Liuboslavskiy, silver medal winner at last year's European Junior Championships.

Another strong challenge will come from the Finnish team. They also boast two athletes for the future: Teemu Wirkkala and Antti Ruuskanen who won gold and bronze respectively in the javelin at the 2003 Euro Junior Championships.

The Italians will also put on show some good throwers, particularly Claudia Coslovich. Indeed, in the likes of Agnese Maffeis (discus), Estel Balassini (hammer) and Assunta Legnante (shot) the Italians have good female athletes in all disciplines whereas Cristiano Andrei (discus) will be their leading male athlete.

Yet, the star of the weekend will undoubtedly be Vita Pavlysh. The Ukrainian won a gold medal in the shot at last week's World Indoor Championships and is currently the leading woman in her field.

Another athlete to come away with a medal from last week's indoors is Joachim Olsen. He was third in the shot but in Malta he is expected to compete in the discus.

The Romanian team will feature Mihaele Melinte, one of the legends of the hammer throw. She was only 19 when she set her first world record in 1995 and in 1999 was the first woman to throw farther than 76 metres. Her throw of 76.07 metres is still a world record.

Commonwealth gold champion Lorraine Shaw looks to be Britain's best hope for a medal in the hammer. Similarly, the French will be looking at Melina Robert-Michon in the discus while Portugal's Vania Silva (hammer) will be hoping for a good showing.