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Mediterranean Games

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For the most recent games, see 2022 Mediterranean Games. For the upcoming games, see 2026 Mediterranean Games.
Mediterranean Games
Official logo of the Games
First event1951 Mediterranean Games in Alexandria, Egypt
Occur everyFour years
Last event2022 Mediterranean Games in Oran, Algeria
Next event2026 Mediterranean Games in Taranto, Italy
PurposeMulti-sport event for nations on the Mediterranean Sea
PresidentDavide Tizzano
Websitewww.cijm.org.gr Edit this at Wikidata
Games

The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The first Mediterranean Games were held in 1951 in Alexandria, Egypt, while the most recent games were held in 2022 in Oran, Algeria.

History

The idea was proposed at the 1948 Summer Olympics by Muhammed Taher Pasha, chairman of the Egyptian Olympic Committee and vice-president of the International 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, the Mediterranean Athletics Championships were contested,[2][3] and the Mediterranean Cup football competition was held in 1949 and 1950.[4] The first official Mediterranean Games were held in Egypt in 1951.

The Games were inaugurated in October 1951, in Alexandria, Egypt, in honour of Muhammed Taher Pasha, with contests being held in 13 sports along with the participation of 734 athletes from 10 countries. In 1955, in Barcelona, 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) and Morocco (1983); six from Europe: Spain (1955, 2005, 2018), Italy (1963, 1997, 2009), Turkey (1971, 2013), Yugoslavia (1979), Greece (1991) and France (1993) and two from Asia: Lebanon (1959) and Syria (1987).

The first eleven games took place one year before the Summer 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, when Languedoc-Roussillon in France hosted the Games just two years after Athens. 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

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 the Hellenic 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 of Volos and Larissa were 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

Participating countries

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

Kosovo was accepted as a member of the International Committee of Mediterranean Games in October 2015 and participated for the first time in the 2018 Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, Spain.[6] One athlete representing the Vatican City participated in an unofficial ("non-scoring") manner in the women's half marathon event at the 2022 Mediterranean Games in Oran, Algeria.[7]

Of all the National Olympic Committees within the Olympic Movement bordering the Mediterranean Sea, Israel and Palestine have not participated in the games, nor has Great Britain who represents the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar and Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

In the case of Israel, Allen Guttman in The Games Must Go On argued that Israel's exclusion is both antisemitic and politically motivated due to antagonism towards Israel by the participating Arab nations. The IOC's Avery Brundage was not supportive of Israel's desire to compete, saying: "I cannot understand why anyone wants to go where he is not wanted". The International Amateur Athletics Federation pushed the issue at the 1959 Mediterranean Games in Beirut by refusing to grant permission to hold an athletics competition unless Israel were allowed to compete. Lebanese games organizer Gabriel Gemayel conceded to this, but sidestepped the ruling by holding a parallel Lebanese Games comprising athletics events between the present nations alongside the official Mediterranean Games competitions.[8] In September 2023, European Olympic Committees president Spyros Capralos called on the International Committee of Mediterranean Games to open a discussion about admitting both Israel and Palestine as members.[9]

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

The Hellenic Olympic Committee has suggested that nine more countries that do not satisfy geographic criteria could be allowed to participate, such as Bulgaria, and some Arab countries such as Jordan and Iraq.[citation needed] Portugal competed in the 2018 Mediterranean Games after a decision which approved Portugal as effective National Olympic Committee.[10][11]

Flag

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

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 Opened by Nations Competitors Sports Events Top Country On
Medal Table
Men Women Total
1 1951 Egypt Alexandria Farouk I 10 734 --- 734 14 91  Italy
2 1955 Spain Barcelona Francisco Franco 10 1135 --- 1135 20 102  France
3 1959 Lebanon Beirut Fuad Chehab 11 792 --- 792 17 106  France
4 1963 Italy Naples Antonio Segni 13 1057 --- 1057 17 93  Italy
5 1967 Tunisia Tunis Habib Bourguiba 12 1211 38 1249 14 93  Italy
6 1971 Turkey İzmir Cevdet Sunay 14 1235 127 1362 18 137  Italy
7 1975 Algeria Algiers Houari Boumédiène 15 2095 349 2444 19 160  Italy
8 1979 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Split Josip Broz Tito 14 2009 399 2408 26 192  Yugoslavia
9 1983 Morocco Casablanca Hassan II 16 1845 335 2180 20 162  Italy
10 1987 Syria Latakia Hafez al-Assad 18 1529 467 1996 19 162  Italy
11 1991 Greece Athens Konstantinos Karamanlis 18 2176 586 2762 24 217  Italy
12 1993 France Languedoc-Roussillon François Mitterrand 19 1994 604 2598 24 217  France
13 1997 Italy Bari Oscar Luigi Scalfaro 21 2166 790 2956 27 234  Italy
14 2001 Tunisia Tunis Zine El Abidine Ben Ali 23[13] 1972 1019 2991 23 230  France
15 2005 Spain Almería Juan Carlos I 21 2126 1077 3203 27 258  Italy
16 2009 Italy Pescara Renato Schifani 23 2183 1185 3368 28 244  Italy
17 2013 Turkey Mersin Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 24 1994 1070 3064 27 264  Italy
18 2018 Spain Tarragona Felipe VI 26 2180 1468 3648 28 246  Italy
19 2022 Algeria Oran Abdelmadjid Tebboune 26 2014 1284 3298 24 244  Italy
20 2026 Italy Taranto President of Italy (expected) Future Event
21 2030 Kosovo Pristina President of Kosovo (expected) Future Event
Notes

All-time medal table

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

- Yugoslavia competed in 1997 and 2001 as FR Yugoslavia.[15]

- Serbia competed in 2005 as Serbia 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

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

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

Sport Years
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
Sport Years
Sailing Since 1955
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

References

  1. ^ "History of the Mediterranean Games". International Committee of Mediterranean Games. CIJM. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  2. ^ εφ. "Αθλητική Ημέρα", Μάιος 1935.
  3. ^ "Mediterranean Games". gbrathletics.com. Retrieved 21 December 2012. 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. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  6. ^ Kosovo accepted as member of International Committee of the Mediterranean Games.
  7. ^ "Vatican City primed for debut at Mediterranean Games".
  8. ^ The games must go on: Avery Brundage and the Olympic movement, Allen Guttmann, page 225.
  9. ^ https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1140765/capralos-call-icmg-open-israel-palestine
  10. ^ "Participation of Portugal in the MG Tarragona 2017". cijm.org.gr. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  11. ^ "Portugal new member of the ICMG". cijm.org.gr. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  12. ^ a b "Mediterranean Games History". Mediterranean Games Site. 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
  13. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-07-28. Retrieved 2013-06-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac "Medals table per country and per Games".
  15. ^ "International Committee of the Mediterranean Games".
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