The information may have gone unnoticed, but the Mediterranean Games begin this week in Mersin, Turkey. The 17rd edition of this multi-sport competition, organized every four years, will open on Thursday June 20, ending ten days later.
What are they for ? The response turns out to be very contrasting from one side of the Mediterranean to the other. Algeria made it one of the highs of the season. Its delegation includes 171 athletes, competing in seventeen disciplines. The Algerian Minister of Youth and Sports, Mohammed Tahmi, received all those selected on the eve of their departure for Turkey. A “sympathetic” but very solemn reception, during which the leader urged the athletes to “raise the colors of Algeria high”, then he specified that the country had “mobilized all material and human means so that the athletes lack nothing” in their preparation for the event.
Same mobilization on the Tunisian side. The National Olympic Committee has designated one of its most recognizable athletes, judoka Houda Miled, a two-time world bronze medalist, as the delegation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony. “A great opportunity that only happens once in the life of an athlete and a great honor for Tunisian women and for judo,” commented the multiple African champion.
Conversely, France is struggling to mobilize its troops. Handball was withdrawn in its entirety, citing some uncertainty regarding living and logistical conditions, after the competitions were moved from Mersin to Adana, near the Syrian border. Rowing followed suit, for the same reasons. Athletics has cobbled together a selection where you have to take a magnifying glass to find just one of the leaders of the French team. There we just find the high jumper Mélanie Melfort, the shot putter Gaëtan Bucki, the triple jumper Karl Taillepierre and the young hurdler Pascal Martinot-Lagarde. Bernard Bourreau, the coach of the French road cycling team, also had to deal with withdrawals, with several of his team members preferring to focus on the French championships scheduled for the same period.
On the other hand, the French women's volleyball team is playing the game to the fullest in this Mediterranean event. The players coached by Fabrice Vial will use what appears to be a very tough tournament to prepare for the European Championship, for which they have just won their ticket. “We are aiming for a semi-final,” says manager Olivier Lardier. Les Bleues were placed in a three-way group, with Croatia and Italy.
