Italy finished top of the medals table on the final day of the Mediterranean Beach Games ©ICMG

Italy finished top of the medals table at the 2023 Mediterranean Beach Games in Heraklion, on the island of Crete, just ahead of Greece and Spain, on a day when organisers paid a special visit to the delegation of flood-ravaged Libya.

Davide Tizzano, President of the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games (ICMG) and secretary general Iakovos Filippousis paid a visit to the Libyan delegation participating in the Games.

The two officials expressed their sadness for the thousands of victims of the floods that have affected Libya.

They stressed that the ICMG is ready to help the Libyan sports community in every possible way.

The Libyan delegation thanked ICMG for its support and solidarity and invited the President and the secretary general to the Libyan Olympic Committee.

The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.

ICMG President Davide Tizzano, third from left, visited the Libyan delegation at the Mediterranean Beach Games to express solidarity after the country's recent floods ©ICMG
ICMG President Davide Tizzano, third from left, visited the Libyan delegation at the Mediterranean Beach Games to express solidarity after the country's recent floods ©ICMG

The ICMG also sent a letter of support to the Olympic Committees of Libya and Greece for the victims of the floods and to the Moroccan Olympic Committee for the victims of the deadly earthquake.

The Italian and Greek teams finished with 13 gold medals each, one more than the Spanish total.

But it was Italy who topped the standings due to a superior total of 42 medals, which included 16 silvers and 13 bronzes, as opposed to the Greek total of 33, which included 10 silvers and 10 bronzes.

Spain’s total of 20 medals included 12 golds, two silvers and six bronzes.

Italy were bound for gold in the women’s beach volleyball final as Reka Orsi Toth and Giada Bianchi beat compatriots Margherita Bianchin and Claudia Scampoli 21-12, 21-15.

But the nation's hopes of a beach volleyball double fell as David Benzi and Carlo Bonifazi were beaten 22-20, 21-13 by the French pairing of Clavin and Quincy Aye.

Bronze in the women’s event went to France’s Aline Chamereau and Clemence Vieira, who beat Elisavet Triantafyllidi and Dionysia Matiou 21-10, 21-17, while Portugal’s Joao Pedrosa and Hugo Campos claimed the men’s bronze with a 24-22, 19-21, 15-13 win over Gianluca Dal Corso and Marco Viscovich of Italy.

The beach tennis competition, which concluded the Games programme, saw gold earned by Italy and France.

Italy’s Flaminia Daina and Nicole Nobile won the women’s doubles title, beating France’s Claude and Mathilde Hoarau 6-0, 6-2.

France’s Nicolas Gianotti and Mathieu Guegano earned the men’s title with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Antonio Ramos Viera and Gerard Rodriguez Querol of Spain.

The women’s and men’s bronze medals went to Spain and Italy respectively.

In the concluding day’s longer finswimming events, Greece won the first gold as Marios Armoutsis won the men’s 4km SF (surface finswimming) final in 38min 43.5sec, from team-mate Ilias Kalfidis in 38:44.9 and Italy’s Davide De Ceglie, who clocked 39:03.9.

Egypt won the women’s 4km SF final thanks to Gamila Hassan, who recorded 42:48.2 to beat Italy’s Mara Zamet, who recorded 43:17.3, and Sofia Tsianou of Greece, who clocked 45:36.6.

Egypt took gold and silver in the men’s 2km BF (bi-fins) final as Marwan Elamrawy clocked 20:50.8 and Ahmed Radwan 22:19.4, with bronze going to Georgios Mantzkos of Greece in 22:27.3.

Silvia Belli claimed gold for Italy in the women’s 2km BF final in 22:37.4, with silver going to Spain’s Sonia Fargas Mexia in 23:17.5 and Tunisia’s Sarra Ben Ahmed earning bronze in 23:18.0.

Egypt earned a third gold on the day as they won the concluding 4x2km mixed relay in 1hr 19min 06.7sec from Greece, who finished in 1:19:14,8 and Italy, who clocked 1:19:59.3.