Luca Vella (Swimming) and Leia Summer Madden (Karate) are the winners of the Atlas Youth Athlete of the Month Award for August.

Luca Vella, aged 18, secured his third National Open Water Swimming Championship, following victories in 2021 and 2023. Luca was consistent throughout the whole championship and remained unbeaten after six races, of which five  had a 2 kilometres course and the last one  4 kilometres. He finished the last race in 56 minutes and 49 seconds, just 3 seconds ahead of Sam Camilleri.

Meanwhile, Leia Summer Madden, who will turn 13 this month, won the silver medal as she placed second in the World Karate Federation Youth League in Cancon, Mexico. This is the first time for Malta to win a medal in this competition. Leia was outstanding in the Under 47 kilogrammes category reserved for youths under 14 years of age. She passed all the three rounds but in the final she lost 7-2 against Elina Balint from the USA. In August last year, Thyis Antonelli, who also practices Karate, won the Atlas Youth Athlete of the Month Award.

The Atlas Youth Athlete of the Month Award was presented to the winners by Matthew von Brockdorff, Managing Director and CEO of Atlas Insurance, together with Robert Micallef, Chief Commercial Officer. The Malta Sports Journalists Association was represented by General Secretary Lorraine Cunningham and Administrator Stephen Azzopardi.

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’ national and international 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 this award can be viewed through the link https://www.maltasportsjournalists.com/atlas-youth-athlete-of-the-month-rules-and-regulations/