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Mediterranean Games

For the most recent games, see2022 Mediterranean Games.For the upcoming games, see2026 Mediterranean Games.

TheMediterranean Gamesis amulti-sport eventorganised by theInternational Committee of Mediterranean Games(CIJM). It is held every four years amongathletesfrom countries bordering theMediterranean Seain Africa, Asia and Europe. The first Mediterranean Games were held in1951inAlexandria,Egypt, while the most recent games were held in2022inOran,Algeria.

Mediterranean Games
Official logo of the Games
First event1951 Mediterranean GamesinAlexandria,Egypt
Occur everyFour years
Last event2022 Mediterranean GamesinOran,Algeria
Next event2026 Mediterranean GamesinTaranto,Italy
PurposeMulti-sport eventfor nations on theMediterranean Sea
PresidentDavide Tizzano
Websitewww.cijm.org.grEdit this at Wikidata

History

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The idea was proposed at the1948 Summer OlympicsbyMuhammed Taher Pasha,chairman of theEgyptian Olympic Committeeand vice-president of theInternational Olympic Committee(I.O.C.), assisted by the Greek member of the I.O.C.Ioannis Ketseas.[1]Separate Mediterranean sports events preceded the games. From 1947 to 1949, theMediterranean Athletics Championshipswere contested,[2][3]and theMediterranean Cupfootball competition was held in 1949 and 1950.[4]The first official Mediterranean Games were held inEgyptin 1951.

The Games were inaugurated in October 1951, inAlexandria,Egypt,in honour ofMuhammed Taher Pasha,with contests being held in 13 sports along with the participation of 734 athletes from 10 countries. In 1955, inBarcelona,during the II Games, the set up was decided of a Supervisory and Controlling Body for the Games, a kind of Executive Committee. The decisions were finally materialized on 16 June 1961, and the said Body was named, upon a Greek notion, ICMG (International Committee for the Mediterranean Games). Twelve countries have hosted the Mediterranean Games: four from Africa:Egypt(1951),Tunisia(1967, 2001),Algeria(1975, 2022) andMorocco(1983); six from Europe:Spain(1955, 2005, 2018),Italy(1963, 1997, 2009),Turkey(1971, 2013),Yugoslavia(1979),Greece(1991) andFrance(1993) and two from Asia:Lebanon(1959) andSyria(1987).

The first eleven games took place one year before theSummer Olympic Games.Since 1993, games have been held the year after the Olympic Games. This transition means that the only time the Mediterranean Games were not held four years after the previous Games was in 1993, whenLanguedoc-Roussillonin France hosted the Games just two years afterAthens.In 2018, the Mediterranean Games calendar was reset again when Tarragona hosted the Games in the mid-even year between the Summer Olympic Games (and the same year as the FIFA Men's World Cup).

Description

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The Mediterranean Games, in terms of the preparation and composition of the National Delegation, are held under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee and theHellenic Olympic Committee(HOC).

Athens is the permanent seat of the ICMG (regardless of who the President might be) and the committee's General Secretary is Greek. This comes as a further tribute to Greece, highlighting its leading role with regard to the function and strengthening of the institution. Except that Greece bailed out of its 2013 Mediterranean Games commitment when the two cities ofVolosandLarissawere supposed to host the 2013 edition of the Games. But because of Greece's financial troubles, they had to give that up and the 2013 honors went instead to Turkey, with the city of Mersin rescuing the 2013 edition of the Games instead.

Participating countries

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Participating countries

At present, 26 countries participate in the games:[5]

Kosovowas accepted as a member of the International Committee of Mediterranean Games in October 2015 and participated for the first time in the2018 Mediterranean GamesinTarragona,Spain.[6]One athlete representing theVatican Cityparticipated in an unofficial ( "non-scoring" ) manner in the women's half marathon event at the2022 Mediterranean GamesinOran,Algeria.[7]

Of all theNational Olympic Committeeswithin the Olympic Movement bordering the Mediterranean Sea,IsraelandPalestinehave not participated in the games, nor hasGreat Britainwho represents theBritish Overseas TerritoryofGibraltarandAkrotiri and Dhekelia.

In the case ofIsrael,Allen Guttman inThe Games Must Go Onargued that Israel's exclusion is bothantisemiticand politically motivated due to antagonism towards Israel by the participatingMuslimandArab nations.The IOC'sAvery Brundagewas not supportive of Israel's desire to compete, saying: "I cannot understand why anyone wants to go where he is not wanted". TheInternational Amateur Athletics Federationpushed the issue at the1959 Mediterranean GamesinBeirutby refusing to grant permission to hold anathleticscompetition unless Israel were allowed to compete.Lebanesegames organizer Gabriel Gemayel conceded to this, but sidestepped the ruling by holding a parallelLebanese Gamescomprising athletics events between the present nations alongside the official Mediterranean Games competitions.[8]In September 2023,European Olympic CommitteespresidentSpyros Capraloscalled on theInternational Committee of Mediterranean Gamesto open a discussion about admitting bothIsraelandPalestineas members.[9]

There are countries not bordering the Mediterranean Sea which nonetheless participate:Portugal,Andorra,Kosovo,San Marino,SerbiaandNorth Macedonia.Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia were all formerly part of Yugoslavia, which competed until its breakup and dissolution.[citation needed]

TheHellenic Olympic Committeehas suggested that nine more countries that do not satisfy geographic criteria could be allowed to participate, such asBulgaria,and someArab countriessuch asJordanandIraq.[citation needed]Portugalcompeted in the2018 Mediterranean Gamesafter a decision which approved Portugal as effective National Olympic Committee.[10][11]

Flag

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Flag of the Mediterranean Games

The symbol of the Mediterranean Games consists of three rings representing Asia, Africa and Europe, the three continents involved in this competition.[12]The rings dissolve in a wavy line in their lower part, as if they were immersed in the Mediterranean Sea. During the closing ceremony, the flag is transferred to the country of the city chosen to host the next Mediterranean Games.[12]

Hosts

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All host cities have been coastal and all but one on the Mediterranean coast (Casablanca is on the Atlantic coast).

Cities that have hosted the Games
No Year Host City Dates Opened by Nations Competitors Sports Events Top Country On
Medal Table
Men Women Total
1 1951 Alexandria 5 - 20 October Farouk I 10 734 --- 734 14 91 Italy
2 1955 Barcelona 15 - 25 July Francisco Franco 10 1135 --- 1135 20 102 France
3 1959 Beirut 11 - 23 October Fuad Chehab 11 792 --- 792 17 106 France
4 1963 Naples 21 - 29 September Antonio Segni 13 1057 --- 1057 17 93 Italy
5 1967 Tunis 8 - 17 September Habib Bourguiba 12 1211 38 1249 14 93 Italy
6 1971 İzmir 6 - 17 October Cevdet Sunay 14 1235 127 1362 18 137 Italy
7 1975 Algiers 23 August - 6 September Houari Boumédiène 15 2095 349 2444 19 160 Italy
8 1979 Split 15 - 29 September Josip Broz Tito 14 2009 399 2408 26 192 Yugoslavia
9 1983 Casablanca 3 - 17 September Hassan II 16 1845 335 2180 20 162 Italy
10 1987 Latakia 11 - 25 September Hafez al-Assad 18 1529 467 1996 19 162 Italy
11 1991 Athens 28 June - 12 July Konstantinos Karamanlis 18 2176 586 2762 24 217 Italy
12 1993 Languedoc-Roussillon 16 - 27 June François Mitterrand 19 1994 604 2598 24 217 France
13 1997 Bari 13 - 25 June Oscar Luigi Scalfaro 21 2166 790 2956 27 234 Italy
14 2001 Tunis 2 - 15 September Zine El Abidine Ben Ali 23[13] 1972 1019 2991 23 230 France
15 2005 Almería 24 June - 3 July Juan Carlos I 21 2126 1077 3203 27 258 Italy
16 2009 Pescara 25 June - 5 July Renato Schifani 23 2183 1185 3368 28 244 Italy
17 2013 Mersin 20 - 30 June Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 24 1994 1070 3064 27 264 Italy
18 2018 Tarragona 22 June - 1 July Felipe VI 26 2180 1468 3648 28 246 Italy
19 2022 Oran 25 June - 6 July Abdelmadjid Tebboune 26 2014 1284 3298 24 244 Italy
20 2026 Taranto 23 August - 3 September President of Italy(expected) Future Event
21 2030 Pristina 24 July - 4 August President of Kosovo(expected) Future Event
Notes

All-time medal table

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Medal Table 1951–2022

Rank Team Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Italy 19 924 791 747 2462[14]
2 France 19 652 600 569 1821[14]
3 Turkey 19 384 269 314 967[14]
4 Spain 19 345 474 569 1388[14]
5 Greece 19 200 257 349 806[14]
6 Yugoslavia* 12 199 177 182 558[14]
7 Egypt 17 156 209 255 620[14]
8 Tunisia 17 89 101 159 349[14]
9 Algeria 15 86 76 131 293[14]
10 Morocco 17 72 90 116 278[14]
11 Croatia 8 57 69 79 205[14]
12 Slovenia 8 55 64 99 218[14]
13 Serbia 5 54 51 58 163[14]
14 Syria 17 32 42 76 150[14]
15 United Arab Republic** 1 23 21 30 74[14]
16 Cyprus 11 19 21 25 65[14]
17 Albania 10 11 19 18 48[14]
18 Lebanon 18 10 23 42 75[14]
19 Portugal 2 10 18 21 49[14]
20 Bosnia and Herzegovina 8 6 8 25 39[14]
21 Kosovo 2 6 1 3 10[14]
22 San Marino 10 5 10 8 23[14]
23 Montenegro 4 4 8 10 22[14]
24 North Macedonia 3 3 2 9 14[14]
25 Libya 13 2 1 14 17[14]
26 Malta 19 1 4 4 9[14]
27 Monaco 15 1 3 1 5[14]
28 Andorra 5 0 0 0 0[14]
29 Jordan*** 1 0 0 0 0[14]
Total 19 3408 3409 3914 10731

-Yugoslaviacompeted in1997and2001asFR Yugoslavia.[15]

-Serbiacompeted in2005asSerbia and Montenegro.

  • (*) Yugoslavia participated in the Games before its breakup and the establishment of the constituent republics
  • (**) The UAR included at the time Egypt and Syria
  • (***) Honorary participation in the MG Tunis 2001

Doping

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Changes by Doping:

  1. Nurcan Taylan-Weightlifting at the 2009 Mediterranean Games- 53 kg Women - 2 Gold
  2. Gülcan Mıngır-Athletics at the 2013 Mediterranean Games – Results- 3000m Steeplechase Women - 1 Bronze

Competitions

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Throughout the history of the Mediterranean Games, 33 different sports have been presented.

Sport Years
3x3 basketball Since 2018
Archery Since 1971
Athletics Since 1951
Badminton Since 2013
Basketball Since 1951
Beach volleyball Since 2005
Bocce Since 1997
Boxing Since 1951
Canoeing Since 1979
Cycling Since 1955
Diving Since 1951
Equestrian Since 1955
Sport Years
Fencing Since 1951
Field hockey Since 1955
Football Since 1951
Golf Since 1983
Gymnastics Since 1951
Handball Since 1967
Judo Since 1971
Karate Since 1993
Roller hockey Since 1955
Rowing Since 1951
Rugby union Since 1955
Sailing Since 1955
Sport Years
Shooting Since 1951
Swimming Since 1951
Table tennis Since 1971
Taekwondo Since 2013
Tennis Since 1963
Volleyball Since 1959
Water polo Since 1951
Waterskiing Since 2009
Weightlifting Since 1951
Wrestling Since 1951

See also

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References

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  1. ^"History of the Mediterranean Games".International Committee of Mediterranean Games.CIJM.Retrieved21 June2015.
  2. ^εφ. "Αθλητική Ημέρα", Μάιος 1935.
  3. ^"Mediterranean Games".gbrathletics.com.Retrieved21 December2012.The Mediterranean Games were first held in 1951, although an unofficial Games was previously held in 1949.
  4. ^Mediterranean Cup and Games.RSSSF. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  5. ^"Participating countries".pescara2009.it.Retrieved15 March2018.
  6. ^Kosovo accepted as member of International Committee of the Mediterranean Games.
  7. ^"Vatican City primed for debut at Mediterranean Games".July 2022.
  8. ^The games must go on: Avery Brundage and the Olympic movement, Allen Guttmann,page 225.
  9. ^"Capralos calls on ICMG to open discussion on membership of Israel and Palestine".13 September 2023.
  10. ^"Participation of Portugal in the MG Tarragona 2017".cijm.org.gr.Retrieved20 August2016.
  11. ^"Portugal new member of the ICMG".cijm.org.gr.Retrieved1 February2018.
  12. ^ab"Mediterranean Games History".Mediterranean Games Site. 2008.Retrieved2008-10-02.
  13. ^"Archived copy"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2013-07-28.Retrieved2013-06-15.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. ^abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabac"Medals table per country and per Games".
  15. ^"International Committee of the Mediterranean Games".
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