Egypt Leads the 31 Arab Medals on Day 12 of the Mediterranean Games

Day 12 was a huge one for the Arab athletes at the Mediterranean Games, with 31 medals won across five nations.

Egypt led with nine medals, including five golds, as Abdelrahman Elsayed swept both 85kg weightlifting titles, while Olympic champions Feryal Ashraf and Kaylia Nemour added more gold to their résumés. Morocco followed with eight medals, Tunisia with seven and Algeria with five.

But one of the day’s biggest moments came from Libya. Mohammed Alzintani put his country on the Taranto medal table for the first time, taking silver in both the 85kg snatch and clean & jerk.

That takes the Arab medal tally to 139, with the Games now entering their final stretch.

2 Golds: Abdelrahman Elsayed, Egypt

The 85kg weightlifter put together one of Egypt’s standout performances of the Games, sweeping gold in both the snatch and clean & jerk. His 172kg snatch was particularly significant, with the lift reported as a new world record, before he followed it with 205kg in the clean & jerk.

Gold & Silver: Roufida Abdeltawwab, Egypt

The 69kg weightlifter also left Taranto with two medals, taking silver in the snatch with 101kg before coming back to win gold in the clean & jerk with 129kg. It gave Egypt another one-two medal performance in weightlifting on the day.

Gold: Feryal Ashraf, Egypt

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic karate champion added another major title to her résumé, beating Italy’s Silvia Semeraro 2–0 in the women’s 68kg final. Even more impressively, Ashraf competed despite an injury, making the gold another standout moment in her career.

Gold: Kaylia Nemour, Algeria

The Paris 2024 Olympic uneven bars champion added another major title to her collection by winning the women’s all-around with 57.750 points. The score was the highest women’s all-around mark recorded anywhere in 2026 so far, underlining just how strong her performance was in Taranto.

Gold: Rahma Tolba, Egypt

Rahma Tolba dominated the women’s 61kg kumite final, beating Türkiye’s Fatma Naz 8–0 to secure another Egyptian karate gold.

Gold: Cylia Ouikene, Algeria

The Algerian karateka took the women’s 50kg title after beating Italy’s Erminia Perfetto 9–3 in the final. She had already survived a close semifinal against Egypt’s Reem Salama, winning 7–6.

Gold: Salma Lehlali, Morocco

Lehlali sprinted to the women’s 400m title in 51.26 seconds, finishing ahead of Italy’s Alessandra Bonora and Alice Mangione. The result gave Morocco another athletics gold on a day filled with podium finishes.

Gold: Chaimae Elhayti, Morocco

Elhayti edged Italy’s Veronica Brunori 3–2 in the women’s 55kg kumite final to claim gold, adding another Moroccan karate title to the day.

Gold: Marwa Bouzayani, Tunisia

Bouzayani led a Tunisian one-two in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, winning gold in 9:04.28. Teammate Rihab Dhahri followed in 9:21.87, giving Tunisia both of the top spots on the podium.

Silver: Anis Chott, Algeria

Chott took silver in the men’s 1500m in 3:43.19, finishing just 0.01 seconds ahead of Morocco’s Anass Essayi. The race gave the Arab delegations two places on the podium in an incredibly tight finish.

Silver: Nihed Benchadli, Algeria

Benchadli finished second in the women’s lightweight single sculls in 8:26.89, behind Greece’s Zoi Fitsiou. Her result added another rowing medal to Algeria’s growing haul.

2 Silvers: Mohammed Alzintani, Libya

Alzintani gave Libya one of the day’s biggest moments, putting the country on the medal table for the first time at Taranto 2026. He took silver in both the 85kg snatch and clean & jerk, making him responsible for both of Libya’s first two medals of the Games.

Silver: Mohamed Amin Jhinaoui, Tunisia

Jhinaoui narrowly missed out on gold in the men’s 5000m, clocking 14:41.55. Portugal’s José Carlos Pinto took the title in 14:41.11, while Morocco’s Fouad Messaoudi completed an all-Arab top three with bronze.

Silver: Tunisia Women’s Handball Team, Tunisia

Tunisia reached the women’s handball final before falling 25–23 to hosts Italy. The silver capped a strong tournament for the Tunisian side and added another team-sport medal to the country’s Day 12 haul.

Silver: Rihab Dhahri, Tunisia

Dhahri clocked 9:21.87 to take silver in the 3000m steeplechase, joining teammate Marwa Bouzayani on the podium and completing Tunisia’s one-two in the event.

Silver & Bronze: Karem Ben Hnia, Tunisia

Ben Hnia produced a two-medal performance in the men’s 75kg weightlifting, taking silver in the snatch with 186kg before adding bronze in the clean & jerk with 151kg.

Bronze: Omar Mohamed, Egypt

Mohamed scored 79.050 to claim bronze in the men’s artistic gymnastics all-around, finishing behind Cyprus’ Marios Georgiou and Spain’s Nicolau Mir.

Bronze: Mohamed Magdi Ha Khalifa, Egypt

A 20.21m throw earned Khalifa bronze in the men’s shot put, adding another athletics medal to Egypt’s already strong Day 12 haul.

Bronze: Reem Salama, Egypt

Salama reached the women’s 50kg semifinal before losing 7–6 to eventual champion Cylia Ouikene. The result still gave Egypt a karate podium finish alongside its two golds.

Bronze: Algeria Men’s 3x3 Basketball Team, Algeria

Algeria beat Türkiye 21–19 in overtime after the game finished 19–19 in regulation to take bronze. The result added a team-sport podium to a day already packed with individual success for Algeria.

Bronze: El Ghali Boukaa, Morocco

Boukaa finished third in individual jumping, giving Morocco another equestrian podium after the country had already taken team jumping bronze earlier in the Games.

Bronze: Fouad Messaoudi, Morocco

Messaoudi ran 14:41.75 to take bronze in the men’s 5000m, just 0.20 seconds behind Tunisia’s Mohamed Amin Jhinaoui in a tightly contested Arab battle for the podium.

Bronze: Anass Essayi, Morocco

Essayi clocked 3:43.20 for bronze in the men’s 1500m, finishing just one hundredth of a second behind Algeria’s Anis Chott.

Bronze: Hamza Sam, Morocco

Sam took bronze in the men’s 75kg kumite, adding another Moroccan karate medal to a day in which the country collected two golds and two further bronzes in the sport.

Bronze: Sawsane Benchbab, Morocco

Benchbab secured bronze in the women’s 61kg kumite after beating Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Amina Cibovic 6–3 in her medal bout.

Bronze: Said Oubaya, Morocco

Oubaya defeated Montenegro’s Nenad Delovic 4–0 to claim bronze in the men’s 67kg kumite, completing Morocco’s six-medal karate haul for the day.

Bronze: Mohamed Krimi & Khadija Krimi, Tunisia

The Tunisian pair finished the lightweight mixed double sculls in 7:10.25 to take bronze, adding another rowing medal to a seven-medal day for Tunisia.