A blue tide is preparing to overwhelm Oran. The Algerian city where the writer Albert Camus set his famous masterpiece “The Plague” is preparing to host the XIX Mediterranean Games, the event that will involve 26 nations bordering the Mare Nostrum, for a total of 3390 athletes, representing from three continents: Europe (18 countries), Africa (5) and Asia (3). It is the restart after the pandemic, given that the event was supposed to have taken place last summer, but has been postponed after the twelve-month shift of the Tokyo Olympics.
It will begin on 25 June with the Opening Ceremony at the Olympic Complex Stadium at 8 pm local time (9 pm Italian time), after which medals will be awarded in 24 different sports: from athletics to swimming, from cycling to football, passing through judo and karate, just to name a few. The curtain will fall, however, on 6 July. The Italian delegation will be the most numerous with 370 athletes present (215 men and 155 women) and with some prominent names, starting with the two standard bearers.
In fact, the standard-bearers will be two Olympic champions such as Diana Bacosi (gold in skeet shooting at Rio 2016) and Luigi Busà (winner last summer in karate in Tokyo), but besides them there are other four stars capable of climbing the step highest in the five-circle review: the fresh European archery champion Mauro Nespoli, the fencer Matteo Tagliariol and the shooters Gabriele Rossetti and Jessica Rossi. Other Italian aces will also be competing in Oran such as the swimmer Fabio Scozzoli and the judoka Manuel Lombardo.
On thirteen occasions, Italy has excelled in the medal table of the Games, followed by France (4) and Yugoslavia (1). The goal is to repeat what was done four years ago in Tarragona, where 56 golds, 55 silvers and 45 bronzes arrived for a total of 156 medals. Inspiration from the past, but also looking to the future, given that from 13 to 22 June 2026 the baton will pass to Taranto, with the Games arriving in Italy for the fourth time in their history after the editions of Naples 1963, Bari 1997 and breaking latest news 2009 In radiant Oran, the hope is that it will shine so blue.