With its 19th edition this year, the Mediterranean games are back. Held at Algeria’s’ Oran from 25 June to 6 July 2022, it brought together Arab athletes from Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Tunis, Algeria, Syria and 19 more Mediterranean countries to compete for the gold. This year’s games have seen some big wins for many Arab Athletes with the top contenders being Egypt with 13 gold medal wins and Algeria, bagging 20 gold medals. Here are some notable winners:
Basant Hamida
Egypt’s 25-year-old sprinter bagged two gold medals, winning the 100- and 200-meter sprints. She set a new record during the games with a win time of 11.10 seconds. Starting her career in the Arab Youth Championship held in 2012, she’s been participating in multiple competitions like the 2019 African Games, winning medals ever since. What’s exciting is that Egypt’s Minister of Sports and Youth announced that Basant will be competing in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics.
Cylia Ouikene
Earning Algeria’s first gold medal, Cylia defeated Reem Salama, winning by an impressive score of 5-0 in the women’s under-50-kilograms karate tournament. Returning home to Freha with Louiza Abouriche, another gold medalist, they were both welcomed by proud Algerians, happy to call them champions.
Hana Goda
Only fourteen years old and known as the Miracle child among Egyptians, with a score of 3-2, Hana defeated her much older Italian 38-year-old opponent, bagging a gold medal for the Women’s ping pong competition. Dina Mushraf and Mairam El Hodegy also won gold medals, earning Egypt a total of 3 gold medals in Ping Pong.
Ahmed Ghossoun
The Syrian Boxer won 2-1 against his Serbian contender in the 75 Weight competitions. A serious contender, Ahmed Ghossoun managed to bag a gold medal during the previous edition of the Mediterranean games held in Spain.
Amr Reda
With a score of 2-1, the Egyptian champion, Amr Reda won gold in the 74 kilo Wrestling competition. His past victories including winning a bronze medal during the 2019 African Games for the 65 kilo Wrestling competition. He also qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games.
Mohammed Yasser Triki
The 24-year-old Algerian athlete won gold for the men’s triple jump. A passionate runner with many past wins, he qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics through his impressive achievement of being the 4th best world performance in triple jump at Algiers. He also won a gold medal at the Panarabes Championships in 2019.
Feryal Ashraf
Defeating the Italian contender Silvia Semeraro, Feryal Ashraf won Egypt’s first gold medal of the day in karate. She has been a trailblazer for all Arab Athletes especially when she made history in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by being the first Egyptian female to win a gold medal.
Mouna Béji & Asma Belli
Bagging Tunis’s first gold medal of the Mediterranean games, the pair Mouna Béji & Asma Belli won the final of the ladies doubles during the pétanque competition. Asma Beli continued strong by winning Tunis’ second gold medal during her petanque tournament against Sara Diaz Reyes.
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