It could be said that the Mediterranean Games are reflected in that great sea that laps and characterizes all those countries that have the privilege of looking out into these waters full of history, scents, colors, traditions, beauty. The Games, in fact, are a multidisciplinary sporting event, organized on the model of the Olympic Games, in which the nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea participate. They are organized under the supervision of the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games (CIGM, officially Comité International des Jeux Méditerranéens - CIJM). Promoted in 1948, during the 42nd International Session of the IOC in St. Moritz by the vice-president of the IOC itself and president of the Egyptian National Olympic Committee, Mohammed Taher Pacha, they were officially recognized in the 47th Session of the International Olympic Committee held in Helsinki in 1952. The first Games were held from 5 to 22 October 1951 in Alexandria in Egypt: 734 athletes (all males) took part in it representing 10 nations: Egypt, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Syria, Spain and Turkey. For the record, it should be said, however, that in 1949 the first edition considered 'unofficial' was held in Istanbul. The second edition of the Games was held in 1955 in Barcelona. But for the first women's competitions it will be necessary to wait for the 1967 edition in Tunis. Since then, the Games have been held regularly every four years (since 1993, however, they have been held the year following that of the Olympic Games and not in the one preceding them).

The Games flag features three slightly wavy circles at the bottom that symbolize the three continents that rest on the Mediterranean: Europe, Africa and Asia.

At the Mediterranean Games the different national teams often presented elements of the youth categories ready to move on to the major formations.

If you think of Italy, there are many prominent athletes, or those who would later become one, who have trod the fields of the Games, just think of the athletics sprinters Livio Berruti and the legendary Pietro Mennea, the record holder and Olympian high jumpers Sara Simeoni, long jumper Antonella Capriotti, wrestler Vincenzo Maenza, tennis player Nicola Pietrangeli, rowing champions Carmine, Giuseppe and Agostino Abbagnale, swimmer Giorgio Lamberti, gymnasts Jury Chechi and Vanessa Ferrari (most medal in this competition), the swimmer Federica Pellegrini and the Olympic boxer Roberto Cammarelle. This explains, at least in part, the large amount of medals won by the Azzurri in the various disciplines and Italy's first place in the medal table in various editions.

Italy has already hosted this sporting event aimed at Mediterranean countries three times: in Naples in 1963, in Bari in 1997 and in Pescara in 2009. And, after 29 years, the Mediterranean Games return in 2026 to Taranto in Puglia.

The memory of the verdict that arrived on the afternoon of 24 August 2019 in Patras, Greece, at the work of the general assembly of the International Committee (Cijm), which decreed Taranto as the location where the Games will take place from 13 to 22 June, is still vivid. of 2026. The Games not only returned to Puglia after almost thirty years, but returned to crown Taranto as the queen of the Mediterranean.