Thirteen days of competition, 1,853 medals up for grabs for 3,803 athletes and 100,000 tickets already sold. And in Taranto Padel players are already being chased for selfies and autographs…

Sunday 23 August, 10.30am. The roar of the crowd, applause and, at the end, requests for selfies, photos and autographs, as wristbands fly through the air to the delight of the youngest fans, relentless gadget hunters. On court, Egypt and Greece are facing each other in the mixed draw: Moura Hakim and Youssef Hossam against Pavlos Balafas and Christina Ntanou. At the end, the Greek pair will come out on top. There is an Italian proverb that says: “A good beginning makes a good ending”, and the morning of an extraordinary Sunday at the Mediterranean Games, at the Parco del Mediterraneo Salinella, was simply beautiful. It was also a small taste of the enthusiasm accompanying the Padel debut in Taranto.

 

Saturday saw an even more surprising reception for the Italian men’s and women’s teams, the eagerly awaited home representatives led by Marcela Ferrari. Fans, undeterred by the heat, followed the men’s training session featuring Montiel-Abbate and Iacovino-Cassetta — with Giulia Dal Pozzo courtside alongside the Italian head coach and the two coaches of the team, Palmieri and Scala — as if it were a real match. And at the end, there was a shower of Italian tricolour wristbands, with fans embracing the Italian players. A small taste of the passion that will accompany the home players across the three events — men’s, women’s and mixed — when they take to the court to compete for a medal.

 

And it does not end there. Among the most beautiful snapshots are undoubtedly the pleasantly surprised faces of players from many of the participating countries as they sign rackets or shirts and pose for selfies. Also worthy of a mention is the initiative by Athletica Vaticana, competing in the men’s Padel event for demonstration purposes, which had all the players from the various national teams present sign a racket that will then be presented to Pope Leo XIV: a sort of “friendship racket”.

 

All this is taking place at a record-breaking edition of the XX Mediterranean Games, which began last Friday in Taranto and is being described by the organisers as the largest event in the history of the Games, founded in 1951. More than 100,000 tickets have already been sold, confirming the strong response from the public for an edition involving four provinces and 13 cities across 13 days of competition, running until 3 September. There are 33 medal sports spread across 28 competition venues, with 26 participating nations, joined by the Athletica Vaticana delegation. A total of 1,853 medals will be awarded: 588 gold, 588 silver and 677 bronze. There will be 273 finals and, alongside Padel, roller skating will also make its debut at the Games. A total of 3,803 athletes have entered, including 2,189 men and 1,614 women. Italy has the largest delegation, with 497 athletes, ahead of Türkiye, with 335.

 

Athletics is the discipline with the highest number of entries, 435, and also the one with the most medals up for grabs, 132. Around 3,000 volunteers, selected from more than 11,000 applicants, will help make the event possible.