Taranto was more than just another stop on Egypt’s Mediterranean Games journey. It ended up being one of the country’s best performances at the Games.
At the 2026 Mediterranean Games in the Italian city, Egypt finished fifth in the medal table and was the top Arab nation, with 58 medals — 23 gold, 16 silver and 19 bronze.
The 23 gold medals were the standout figure. They matched Egypt’s best-ever gold-medal total at the Mediterranean Games, first achieved in Beirut in 1959.
The 58 medals also put Taranto fourth on Egypt’s all-time list. Only Beirut in 1959, with 74 medals, Mersin in 2013, with 67, and Alexandria in 1951, with 65, produced bigger hauls.
Between August 21 and September 3, Egypt competed in 23 sports, and medals came from all parts of the team.
A seven-medal jump
Egypt’s 58 medals were seven more than it won at Oran 2022, where the team took 51 — 13 gold, 15 silver and 23 bronze — and finished sixth.
The bigger difference was in the gold-medal count. Egypt went from 13 golds in Oran to 23 in Taranto, matching its best-ever total at the Games.
Arab leaders, fifth overall
Egypt finished behind Italy, Türkiye, Greece and France, but ahead of Spain and Portugal.
It was also the clear leader among the Arab nations. Morocco was the next best-placed Arab country, finishing eighth with 43 medals, including 15 golds.
Egypt did it with a team of 196 athletes. That was a smaller delegation than those of the five countries above it in the medal table: Italy had 498 athletes, Türkiye 334, France 330, Greece 281 and Spain 249.
Despite the difference in numbers, Egypt won medals in 23 sports.
Golden run
The 23 gold medals were spread across several sports.
In fencing, Mohamed El-Sayed won épée gold and Mohamed Hamza took the foil title. Omar El-Ramly added gold in the judo 100kg category.
Wrestling brought two more titles, with Mohamed Hassan winning the 67kg category and Samar Hamza taking gold in the 76kg event. Feryal Ashraf, Taha Tarek and Rahma Taleb added three karate golds.
Egypt also won the women’s team title in table tennis, while Hana Goda took individual gold.
Weightlifting produced five gold medals through Sara Samir, Abdelrahman Youssef, Karim Kahla, Roufida Fathy and Nour El-Din Mohamed.
There were three more golds in fin swimming, won by Mohab Ehab, Tarek Hassan and Ahmed Hisham Redwan.
The men’s handball team also finished on top, while Abdelrahman Sameh won the 50m butterfly to give Egypt a gold in swimming.
More than just gold
The rest of the medal haul was just as important.
Egypt won 16 silver medals in boxing, fencing, gymnastics, judo, wrestling, table tennis, weightlifting and fin swimming.
The silver medallists included Nabila Alaa El-Din, Sara Hosny, Youssef Shaml, Omar El-Shabaki, Abdelrahman Abdelghany, Mahmoud Farag, Abdelrahman Haitham, Hana Goda and Omar Assar.
The team added 19 bronze medals across athletics, boxing, fencing, gymnastics, judo, karate, swimming, wrestling, weightlifting and fin swimming.
The bronze medallists included Mohamed Magdy, Mohamed Hossam, Abdelrahman Taleb, Omar El-Araby, Hady Hussein, Safa Soliman, Reem Ahmed, Youssef Badawy, Farida Osman, Youssef Ramadan, Mostafa Hussein, Shehab El-Din Abdel-Raouf and Mawada Badawy.
Building on a long tradition
The result was also a reflection of the work behind the athletes, involving the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Egyptian Olympic Committee, national federations and the programmes supporting the team’s preparation.
In the end, the numbers say it all: 196 athletes. 23 sports. 58 medals. 23 golds.
For Egypt, Taranto was more than another Games. It showed the strength of the team across a wide range of sports and matched the country’s best-ever gold-medal haul at the Mediterranean Games.
