Rachela Pace and Kyle Satariano are the winners of the revamped Atlas Youth Athlete of the Month Award for January 2024. They are the first dual recipients of the award since the coming into effect of the revised awards programme that recognises two athletes every month for exceptional performance at local and international levels respectively.

Athlete Rachela Pace, aged 20, is the new holder of the national record of 13.29m in the indoor triple jump, surpassing the previous record of 12.62m that was registered by Rebecca Sare’ in 2023.

Two weeks after breaking the national record in the indoor triple jump, Pace set a new national record of 6.31m in the indoor long jump. The previous national record of 6.08m registered by Rebecca Camilleri had remained unbeaten since 2015.

Rachela Pace, who is currently attending Fresno State University in California, U.S.A, will be presented with the Atlas Youth Athlete of the Month Award during an upcoming visit to Malta.

Eleven-year-old Kyle Satariano won an international darts tournament held in Gevelsberg, Germany. Satariano, who is considered one of the most promising Maltese darts players, was competing in the Under 12 category together with 17 other players.

After ranking first in his group and getting maximum points in the process, Satariano defeated Nevio Rizzo 4-0 in the final. Besides winning the tournament’s cup, Satariano was also given the opportunity to play an exhibition doubles match with two-time world champion Gary Anderson.

Kyle Satariano was officially presented with the Atlas Youth Athlete of the Month Award and a sports apparel voucher by Matthew von Brockdorff, Managing Director and CEO of Atlas Insurance, and Robert Micallef, Chief Commercial Officer. The Malta Sports Journalists Association was represented by President Sandro Micallef and General Secretary Lorraine Cunningham.

This award is a joint initiative of the Malta Sports Journalists Association and Atlas Insurance. The adjudicating panel of this award takes note of all the youths’ achievements of the month under review and at the same time it invites local sport associations and federations to send in their nominations for consideration if they feel that any of their under-21 athletes have distinguished themselves during that month. All the monthly winners are eligible for the annual award.

Nominations for this award may be sent via email to [email protected]. The rules and regulations of the award can be viewed on the website www.maltasportsjournalists.com

Photo caption: From left: Robert Micallef (Atlas Insurance), Matthew von Brockdorff (Atlas Insurance), Kyle Satariano, Lorraine Cunningham (MSJA), Sandro Micallef (MSJA)