Foreign legion brings International flavour

Cardiff's appeal goes a long way. The Welsh Athletics Senior Open Championships, coming on Saturday 13th June at the Cardiff International Sports Stadium, will see the presence of a small but feisty delegation coming from abroad to compete against the very best of Wales. In addition to the many English competitors usually attending, three athletes from Italy have entered the Championships and will challenge local stars like Brett Morse and Matt Elias in the first national championships held at the new home of Welsh Athletics. The three Italians, however, aren't those who had to travel the most: last week's U20 Championships in Newport saw New Zealand's Esther Keown come to compete in the 1500m - and walk away with a gold medal.

The presence of this small but growing international group is an acknowledgement of the quality of Welsh Athletics-organised competitions, and represents also an occasion for our athletes to experience the thrill of facing international opposition. Furthermore, it offers Welsh Athletics the opportunity to receive valuable feedback from athletes coming from such different sporting realities.

On Saturday, Italy will be represented by Marcello Andreoni, Arnaldo Pini and Lorenzo Pini. Andreoni, a combined events athlete, has recently won silver in the Decathlon at the Italian University Championships and will be competing in the 110mH; the Pini brothers will compete in the Discus throw and the 400mH - a discipline in which hurdler Lorenzo qualified to the highly selective Italian championships finals. The trio, who have been training in Wales all week, had many words of praise for the facilities available in the country - noting that arenas like NIAC and CISS are highly superior to those available to many athletes in a country the size of Italy - and for the event organisation of Welsh Athletics.

The foreign participation is just one of the elements highlighting a very high level of interest in this season's Welsh Championships: the event, which also doubles as 2010 Commonwealth Games qualifier, will feature most of the top Welsh athletes and will see more than 20 different media representatives attending - the fitting conclusion to a week of top-level athletics in South Wales.