Malta first entered the Olympic Games at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, making 1928 the correct year. The Maltese delegation consisted of nine water polo players who competed in the men’s tournament.
Malta’s team entered the competition in the round of 16 and was eliminated by France. Although the delegation did not win a medal, its appearance established Malta’s first participation in the Summer Olympics. The country returned at the 1936 Berlin Games, where it competed in water polo and athletics.
The 1928 debut came shortly after the Malta Olympic Committee was formed in the same year. Malta did not send a delegation to the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, so the 1936 Games represented its second Olympic appearance rather than a continuous participation streak. Another possible source of confusion is Malta’s political history: the 1928 Olympic entry predates Malta’s independence from the United Kingdom, which occurred in 1964.