Turkiye beats France and Spain to come second in the Oran 2022 Mediterranean Games

Turkiye equalled its best ever performance at the 19^thMediterranean Games, leaving with a huge of hoard of medals that propelled it to second place in the medals table, just behind table toppers Italy. A total of 321 athletes from Turkiye took part in the Oran Games in Algeria, which ran from 25 June until 6 July. The Turkish team won a staggering 108 medals between them: 45 gold, 26 silver and 37 bronze medals. Wrestling, gymnastics, swimming and boxing were among the sports where Turkish athletes excelled.

Gold winners from Turkiye

Among the winners were women’s wrestlers Evin Demirhan Yavuz, who beat France's Julie Sabatie 3-2 in the final of the 50 kilogramme freestyle event, Bediha Gün, who defeated Tunisia's Siwar Bouseta 5-0 in the 57 kg final, and Yasemin Adar Yiğit, who took gold medal against Italian Enrica Rinaldi, winning 10-0 in the 76 kg final. There were four golds for Turkiye in men’s wrestling, with Kerem Kamal (Men's Greco-Roman 60 kg), Murat Fırat (Men's Greco-Roman 67 kg), Osman Yıldırım (Men's Greco-Roman 130 kg), and Muhammet Karavuş (Men's Freestyle 57 kg) each collecting winners medals. Four Turkish boules players also picked up gold in a game similar to British bowls. Buket Öztürk defeated Italian Valentina Basei in the women's precision shooting final, Inci Ece Öztürk won in the women's progressive shooting final, Ibrahim Arslantaş took gold in the men's precision shooting final, and Bahar Çil beat Algeria's Lamia Aissioui 9-7 in the final to pick up Turkiye’s fourth boules gold. Gymnasts Ferhat Arıcan, Adem Asil and İbrahim Çolak also claimed gold medals in their respective fields: men’s parallel bars, men's vault, and men’s rings.

Pole Vault champion Ersu Şaşma and Takewondo +67kg gold Nafia Kuş at Oran 2022 Games. Photo © Facebook / Türkiye Milli Olimpiyat Komitesi

  On the track, Jak Ali Harvey won the Men's 100 metres, Yasmani Copello took the Men's 400m Hurdles    title, and Ramil Guliyev retained his Men's 200 metres title. In field events, Özkan Baltacı won the Men's Hammer Throw and Ersu Şaşma the Men’s Pole Vault. In the women’s track competition, Yasemin Can won gold in the Women's 5000m, and Ekaterina Guliyev  won the Women's 800m final. There were five golds in the pool for Turkiye: Berkay Ömer Öğretir (Men's 100 metre and 200 metre breaststroke), Merve Tuncel (Women's 800 m freestyle), Deniz Ertan (Women's 400 m freestyle), and Viktoriya Zeynep Güneş (Women's 200 m breaststroke). In the ring, Turkish female boxers came away with three golds: Hatice Akbaş (Women's bantamweight), Busenaz Sürmeneli (pictured top, Women's welterweight), Batuhan Çiftçi (Men's featherweight).

Mete Gazoz and Yasemin Ecem Anagöz win gold in Mixed Archery Pairs at Oran 2022 Games. Photo © Facebook / Türkiye Milli Olimpiyat Komitesi

  There was success too in martial arts, with seven golds across karate, judo and taekwondo. Eray Şamdan (Karate Men's 60 kg), Vedat Albayrak (Judo Men's 81 kg), Mihael Žgank (Judo Men's 90 kg), Kayra Sayit (Judo Women's +78 kg), and Merve Dinçel (Taekwondo Women's 49 kg), Hatice Kübra İlgün (Taekwondo Women's 57 kg), and Nafia Kuş (Taekwondo Women's +67 kg) each picked up gold medals. Turkiye also won golds in archery, weightlifting, and badminton.

The Medals Table

The Mediterranean Games was first held in Alexandria, Egypt, back in 1951. The latest edition was held in the port city of Oran, in northwest Algeria. The event brought together some 3,400 athletes from 26 countries across three continents (Africa, Asia and Europe) to compete in 24 sporting competitions, including athletics, swimming, football, judo, and gymnastics over two weeks. Italy topped the Oran Games medals tables for a fifth consecutive time with a medal haul of 48 golds, 50 silvers and 61 bronzes. Turkiye was just three golds shy of first place Italy, equalling their second place in the medals table for the third time, having first achieved this at the 1963 Napoli Games, and then the 2013 Mersin Mediterranean Games.

Oran 2022 Mediterranean Games Medals Table (1-15)

  France came third at the Oran Games with 81 medals, comprising 21 gold, 24 silver and 36 bronze medals. Spain was fifth in the medals table, winning 66 medals: 16 gold, 25 silver and 25 bronze. The hosts Algeria had its best ever Mediterranean Games, finishing fourth overall, just behind France with one gold less. Their 53 medal haul of 20 golds, 17 silver and 16 bronze beat their previous best in Tunisia 21 ears ago. The closing ceremony for the 2022 Mediterranean Games took place at the Olympic Stadium, where some 40,000 spectators of all ages and the 26 national teams were treated to an evening of music, dance, and fireworks. The next Mediterranean Games will be held in Taranto, southern Italy, in four years’ time.