This year’s edition, taking place in Taranto, Italy, from 21 August to 3 September, will feature several firsts and bring together a delegation combining young talent and experienced athletes, all determined to proudly represent the Principality across eight disciplines.

Created in 1951 in Alexandria, the Mediterranean Games bring together, every four years, nations from the three continents bordering the Mediterranean. Organised under the auspices of the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games, they are one of the major international sporting events after the Olympic Games, while also promoting a strong spirit of friendship and closer ties between the peoples of the Mediterranean.

For Monaco, the journey began in Barcelona in 1955. The Principality has taken part in 16 editions, most recently in Oran in 2022, before returning to Taranto for this 20th edition. In Puglia, southern Italy, 17 athletes will represent Monaco in athletics, boules, equestrian, artistic gymnastics, judo, padel, table tennis and sailing.

Padel makes its debut

For the first time, padel will feature on the Mediterranean Games programme. Nicolas Fedoroff will team up with Noah Minioni, who, at just 16, is the youngest athlete in the delegation. This marks the second appearance of the Monaco Olympic Committee in padel at a major international multi-sport competition, following the European Games in Kraków-Małopolska in 2023.

A first in team equestrian competition

Another milestone will be Monaco’s first participation in the team equestrian event. The selection is particularly young, with Eileen Delescule Thomel (19), Anastasia Nielsen (20) and Iñigo López de La Osa Franco (22).

The competition will take place in an unusual setting, at an equestrian centre specially developed within a former quarry.

A family united through pétanque

The Taranto Games will also have a strong family dimension in boules.

Guillaume Campillo, competing in precision shooting and the men’s doubles, will take part in his third Mediterranean Games, following Pescara in 2009 and Oran in 2022. His wife, Sabrina Campillo, competing in precision shooting and the women’s doubles, will make her second appearance after Oran in 2022, while their daughter Giulia Campillo, 20, will be making her Mediterranean Games debut.

Mother and daughter will team up in the women’s doubles, providing a particularly strong symbol for the “red and white” delegation. Also competing in pétanque, Alain Costa, in the men’s doubles, will be the oldest member of the delegation.

Experienced athletes and medal winners

Several Monegasque athletes will return to a competition they know well.

In table tennis, Xiaoxin Yang, returning to competition after maternity leave, will compete at her third Mediterranean Games. She won the silver medal in Tarragona in 2018 before claiming gold in Oran in 2022.

Jérémy Moutout (sailing, ILCA 7) and Marvin Gadeau (judo, +100 kg) will also compete at their third Games, following appearances in Tarragona in 2018 and Oran in 2022.

Kévin Crovetto (artistic gymnastics, individual all-around) will take part in his fourth Mediterranean Games, after Mersin in 2013, Tarragona in 2018 and Oran in 2022.

For athletics, meanwhile, it will be a first for Marie-Charlotte Gastaud (400m hurdles), Thomas Carreda (100m) and Téo Bottin (100m), as well as for Louise Debeaumont (sailing, ILCA 6).

After competing as an athlete at three editions of the Mediterranean Games — Mersin 2013, Tarragona 2018, where he won the silver medal in the men’s singles tennis, and Oran 2022 — Lucas Catarina will experience the Games in a new role this time, as Deputy Chef de Mission alongside Chef de Mission Damien Desprat.

A Mediterranean Village like no other

Taranto will offer an original setting for the Mediterranean Village. It will be located within the Italian naval base, with the vast majority of participants accommodated aboard two cruise ships.

This unusual arrangement is reminiscent of the one used for the 2007 Games of the Small States of Europe in Monaco, when a cruise ship hosted the delegations in Port Hercule.

A delegation combining experience and youth

Monaco will therefore field a delegation in Taranto that brings together several generations of athletes. With first-time competitors, returning medal winners and athletes with a long-standing commitment to the Mediterranean Games, the Monegasque delegation is determined to proudly fly the colours of the Principality at this 20th edition.

Stéphan Maggi
Press Attaché, Monaco Olympic Committee

Xiaoxin Yang aiming for a hat-trick in Taranto?

After winning silver in Tarragona in 2018 and gold in Oran in 2022, Monegasque table tennis player Xiaoxin Yang will compete at her third Mediterranean Games.

Photo: Nacho Casares Montoya – Spanish Olympic Committee