Turkey ends Mediterranean Games campaign as 2nd with 108 medals
Victoria Zeynep Güneş celebrates winning gold in the women's 200-meter breaststroke event, Oran, Algeria, July 5, 2022. (AA Photo)


Turkey completed its Oran 2022 Mediterranean Games campaign as second behind Italy in the overall medals tally on Tuesday.

The national athletes claimed a total of 108 medals – 45 gold, 26 silver, and 37 bronze – at the 11-day competition held in the city of Oran, Algeria.

In Oran, Italy ranked first with a total of 159 medals with 48 gold, 50 silver and 61 bronze medals, while France took the third place with 21 gold, 24 silver and 36 bronze medals totaling 81 medals.

This was the third time Turkey finished second in the Mediterranean Games medals tally after Napoli 1963 and Mersin 2013.

On the last day of the games Tuesday, Team Turkey won five medals, including three gold, one silver and a bronze.

All three golds came in different swimming events.

National swimmer Berkay Ömer Öğretir clocked 1 minute, 0.3 seconds to win gold in men’s 100-meter breaststroke and set a new tournament record. His compatriot Emre Sakcı won the silver medal in the same event with a timing of 1:00.19.

In the women's 400-meter freestyle final, Turkey’s Deniz Ertan won the gold medal with a time of 4:08.04, while Victoria Zeynep Güneş won gold medal in the women's 200-meter breaststroke final with a time of 2:26.48.

Berkay Ömer Öğretir (R) and Emre Sakçı celebrate after a one-two finish in the men's 100-meter breaststroke event at the Med Games, Oran, Algeria July 5, 2022. (AA Photo)

First medals

Turkey’s first medal of the games was won by karateka Tuba Yakan in the women's 55-kilogram event, while the first gold medal came from Eray Şamdan in the men's 60-kilogram karate event.

The men's artistic gymnastics team, consisting of Adem Asil, Ahmet Önder, Ferhat Arıcan, Ibrahim Çolak and Sercan Demir, all won at least one gold medal to mark a historic first.

In women's badminton singles, Neslihan Yiğit defeated Beatriz Corrales Ocana from Spain 2-0 in the final and became the Mediterranean Games champion for the 3rd time in a row.

In athletics, Yasmani Copello Escobar won the gold medal in the men's 400-meter hurdles, breaking the game's record with a time of 48.27 seconds.

Merve Tuncel, in the meanwhile, won the gold medal in the women's 800-meter freestyle swimming with a timing of 8:26.80.

The official closing ceremony of the organization will be held on Wednesday.