Athletes from across the Mediterranean made history in Taranto, setting 64 new Mediterranean records in seven sports, with athletics, shooting, swimming and weightlifting accounting for the largest share of record-breaking performances.

The Taranto 2026 Mediterranean Games provided a remarkable showcase of sporting excellence, with athletes producing a series of outstanding performances that rewrote the record books of the Mediterranean sporting event.

A total of 64 Mediterranean records were broken during the competition, demonstrating the high level of participation and the quality of performances across a wide range of disciplines.

Shooting led the way with 17 new records, followed by athletics with 13, swimming with 12 and weightlifting with 11. Cycling and rowing each contributed four records, while triathlon added three.

The distribution of the records was as follows:

• Shooting: 17
• Athletics: 13
• Swimming: 12
• Weightlifting: 11
• Cycling: 4
• Rowing: 4
• Triathlon: 3

Athletics: 13 records

Athletics produced 13 new Mediterranean records, with particularly impressive performances in the sprint events, hurdles, middle-distance running and field events.

Morocco’s Yassine Hsinne set a new men’s 200m record in 19.94, while Portugal’s Omar Marques El Khatib established a new mark in the men’s 400m with 44.92. France’s Erwann Cinna also set a new record in the men’s 110m hurdles (13.22).

Turkiye’s men’s 4x400m relay team clocked 3:02.02, while Slovenia’s Kristjan Ceh set a new men’s discus record with 68.70m.

In the women’s events, Croatia’s Nina Vukovic set a new 800m record in 1:59.63, Italy’s Celeste Polzonetti recorded 12.75 in the 100m hurdles, and Ayomide Temila Folorunso set a new 400m hurdles record in 54.22.

Tunisia’s Marwa Bouzayani delivered another outstanding performance in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, setting a new record of 9:04.28. Slovenia’s Tina Sutej cleared 4.60m in the pole vault, while Portugal’s Auriol Dongmo Mekemang achieved 19.42m in the shot put.

The mixed relay events also produced new records, with Italy clocking 40.98 in the 4x100m and Turkiye recording 3:14.85 in the 4x400m.

Shooting: 17 records

Shooting was the most prolific sport in terms of new Mediterranean records, accounting for 17 achievements across men’s, women’s and mixed events.

The men’s competitions featured new records in the 10m air pistol, 10m air rifle, trap and skeet. Turkiye’s Ismail Keles scored 236.8 in the 10m air pistol final, while Italy’s Edoardo Bonazzi achieved 632.2 in the 10m air rifle qualification round. His compatriot Danilo Sollazzo scored 249.9 in the final.

In trap, Spain’s Andres Garcia Garcia and Greece’s Ioannis Chatzitsakiroglou both recorded 149 points, while Turkiye’s Muhammet Seyhun Kaya set a new skeet record with 151.

The women’s events also produced a series of exceptional results. Turkiye’s Sevval Ilayda Tarhan scored 573 in the 10m air pistol qualification, while Serbia’s Zorana Arunovic achieved 239.3 in the final.

Serbia’s Andelija Stevanovic recorded 632.7 in the 10m air rifle qualification, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Zakira Pusina with 252.6 in the final.

Turkiye’s Safiye Temizdemir set new trap records in both qualification (118) and the final (146), while Italy’s Sara Bongini established new skeet records with 120 in qualification and 152 in the final.

Three additional records came in the mixed team events. Turkiye’s Ismail Keles and Simal Yilmaz scored 476.1 in the 10m air pistol, Serbia’s Aleksa Rakonjak and Andelija Stevanovic achieved 631 in the 10m air rifle, and Turkiye’s Yavuz Ilnam and Safiye Temizdemir recorded 180 in the trap mixed team event.

Swimming: 12 records

Swimming was another major contributor to the record-breaking performances in Taranto, with outstanding results in men’s, women’s and mixed events.

Greece’s Apostolos Christou set a new men’s 100m backstroke record in 52.34, providing a memorable achievement for the host nation. Italy also enjoyed a particularly successful competition, with Gabriele Mancini setting a new 100m breaststroke record in 59.94, Alberto Razzetti clocking 1:55.29 in the 200m butterfly and Simone Spediacci recording 1:57.70 in the 200m individual medley.

Egypt’s Abdelrahman Same El Araby established a new record in the men’s 50m butterfly with 23.18.

In the women’s events, Italy’s Costanza Cocconcelli set a new 50m backstroke record in 27.85, while Portugal’s Camila Rodrigues Rebel recorded 1:00.37 in the 100m backstroke.

Italy’s Lisa Angiolini achieved new records in both the 50m breaststroke (30.45) and 200m breaststroke (2:24.27), while Benedetta Pilato set a new mark in the 100m breaststroke with 1:05.82. Giada Alzetta (ESP) also established a new Mediterranean record in the women’s 400m individual medley with 4:39.05.

The mixed 4x100m medley relay also produced a new Mediterranean record, with the Italian team clocking 3:45.66.

Weightlifting: 11 records

Weightlifting delivered 11 new Mediterranean records, with athletes from Egypt, Italy, Albania and Türkiye producing outstanding performances across several weight categories.

Egypt’s Noureldin Zaky established a new record in the men’s 65kg snatch with 133kg, while Italy’s Sergio Massida achieved 162kg in the 62kg clean and jerk.

Albania’s Briken Calja lifted 154kg in the men’s 75kg snatch, while Türkiye’s Yusuf Fehmi Genc set a new clean and jerk record in the same category with 187kg.

Egypt’s Abdelrahman Elsayed achieved an impressive double record in the men’s 85kg category, lifting 172kg in the snatch and 205kg in the clean and jerk.

The women’s events also featured remarkable performances. Türkiye’s Cansel Ozkan set a new 53kg snatch record with 91kg, while Italy’s Martina Chiacchio established two records in the 61kg category, lifting 98kg in the snatch and 120kg in the clean and jerk.

Egypt’s Sara Samir Ahmed completed the women’s record-breaking performances in the +75kg category, setting new records of 110kg in the snatch and 137kg in the clean and jerk.

Rowing: Four records

Rowing produced four new Mediterranean records, with Greece playing a prominent role in the achievements.

Christina Bourmpou and Eleni Diavati set a new women’s double sculls record over 2,000m with a time of 7:10.86.

Italy’s Elena Sali and Melissa Schincariol established a new record in the lightweight women’s double sculls, clocking 7:12.05.

Greece also excelled in the mixed double sculls. Stefanos Douskos and Evangelia Anastasiadou set a new record of 6:55.98, while Petros Gkaidatzis and Zoe Fitsiou established another record in the mixed lightweight double sculls with 7:04.14.

Cycling: Four records

Cycling contributed four new Mediterranean records, with Italy and France featuring prominently.

Italy’s Tommaso Dati set a new men’s road race record with a time of 2:59.52, while Tiago Gomes Antunes established a new men’s individual time trial record in 20:05.96.

In the women’s competitions, France’s Amandine Muller set a new individual time trial record in 22:37.14, while Italy’s Rachel Barbieri recorded 2:08.17 in the road race.

Triathlon: Three records

Triathlon added three new Mediterranean records to the impressive total in Taranto.

Greece’s Panagiotis Bitados set a new men’s individual record with a time of 53:47, while Italy’s Bianca Seregni also established a new individual record in 1:02:17.

Italy completed the record-breaking performances in the sport by setting a new mixed relay record of 1:19:44.

Beyond the medals and national team successes, these performances reflect the depth of sporting talent across the Mediterranean and underline the importance of the Games as a platform for elite competition and sporting development.