Her finish yesterday saw her claim the individual title, with more events to come in the English Sporting individual too.
Gozo was admitted to the International Island Games Association in 2021, meaning this is the first Games the Maltese island has been eligible to enter.
Calleja is among the 38 competitors representing Gozo.
“I’m very happy to be the first one to win the first medal for Gozo,” she said. “It has been months of preparation to come here.
“Everyone was doing the training, and it’s showing that in Gozo we have the potential in the sports and the Island Games.”
Calleja’s competition and medal ceremony were watched by others from Gozo including Joyce Farugia who had been involved in the application process to join the IIGA.
Pictured: Joyce Farugia (far right) as Gozo was admitted to the IIGA.
“We saw the presentation of the first medal won by Gozo and it is a proud experience,” she said.
“I’m really proud that we have applied to participate in these Games and we were admitted in the Association and now we are here, participating in our first Games.
“Lara Calleja has won the silver medal in shooting. It is her first medal, the first medal for Gozo and she did it. She did it very well!”
Gozo has fielded athletes across seven different sports – including shooting.
Josef Azzopardi was first to compete for Gozo, coming 17th out of 45 in the individual Triathlon on Sunday.
The Gozitan men’s football team beat St Helena 3-0 yesterday but are second in their group after losing 1-0 to Jersey the day before. Only the top team goes through to the next round from each group meaning Jersey are the favourites.
“Our football team did a good match, although we lost 1-0 against Jersey,” said Ms Farugia. “Considering Jersey is one of the most prominent football teams, they are strong football.”
There’s Gozitan interest in the athletics, table tennis, cycling and swimming – where Gozo is fielding the youngest competitor of the entire Games.
Giuseppe Borg is just 13, and his older brother Antony is also swimming for Gozo.
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Gozo voted into Island Games family
