The Mediterranean Games are heading towards the closing on September 3 at the Iacovone stadium in Taranto before passing the flag to Kosovo, which will host the twenty-first edition from July 24 to August 4, 2030, in the capital Pristina. And a few days before the closing, the emerging data is that Italy is clearly leading in medals won, with swimming reigning supreme among the 33 sports disciplines of the event, while about 160,000 tickets have been sold as of August 31.
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Starting with the opening ceremony on August 21, the Games are delivering great moments of sport, public participation, vitality, enthusiasm, colors, but also affirming a new image of Taranto, a city so far overshadowed by the long-standing issue of the former Ilva. In the spotlight, besides the sports competitions, the competitiveness and the fact that 3,800 athletes from 26 countries in the Mediterranean area have arrived, about 500 of whom are from Italy alone, is also the heritage of sports facilities built for the Mediterranean Games with the 275 million allocated by the Government. Standouts include the radically renovated Iacovone stadium, and as new structures the swimming stadium, with two 50-meter Olympic pools, the PalaRicciardi for outdoor and indoor activities, the tennis center, the urban sports park, all in Taranto.
President Ferrarese: legacy for the youth
“If I look back at the work done in recent years, I can only feel proud and grateful – says Massimo Ferrarese, Government commissioner for the works and president of the organizing committee -. Thanks to a team of exceptional collaborators, we completed everything in record time, starting practically from scratch. The collaboration between the Government, technicians, and companies can be seen in the Iacovone stadium, a symbol of this journey. It has been defined as one of the most beautiful facilities in Southern Italy and is certainly destined to represent the flagship of the entire infrastructure plan. But the overall legacy that I hope the Games can leave to the youth of this city and all the other municipalities that participated in the event is just one: the Mediterranean Games represent the starting point of a new phase for Taranto, called to transform this infrastructure heritage into a stable driver of economic development.”
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DG Molfetta: so far Italy has brought home 51 medals out of 150
“Are we on a decline? No, we never are, we will be on September 4 when the last delegation leaves – says Carlo Molfetta, general director of the Games -. I am a sportsman and I think that at the 88th minute, if you think the game is over, the opponents turn it around on you. For Italy, the discipline that has given the most satisfaction so far is swimming. It has brought home 51 medals, the Taranto native Benedetta Pilato won the first gold for the Azzurri in her city, and a third of Italy’s 150 medals come from swimming. The fact that Turkey is second in the medal table is not a surprise. Both in Tarragona, Spain, and Oran, Algeria, in the two previous editions of the Games, Turkey did very well.”
Attendance: from Mattarella to Albert of Monaco
Five heads of state and three heads of government arrived in Taranto for the opening of the Games. For foreign heads of state, Bajram Begaj came for Albania, Albulena Haxhiu for Kosovo, Gordana Silianovska-Davkova for Macedonia, and Joseph Aoun for Lebanon. Prince Albert of Monaco also arrived in recent days. The Italian participation was very large: President Sergio Mattarella, who pronounced the inaugural formula of the Games – and on the sidelines of the ceremony congratulated Ferrarese for the work done -, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the presidents of the Senate and Chamber, Ignazio La Russa and Lorenzo Fontana, several ministers: Antonio Tajani, deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Tommaso Foti for European Affairs, Andrea Abodi for Sport, Giancarlo Mazzi for tourism. Also present was the executive vice president of the European Commission Raffaele Fitto.
