Taranto 2026 is drawing to a close — and has already made history.

As the Closing Ceremony of the 20th Mediterranean Games prepares to get under way, Italia Team can look back with satisfaction at the figures from an edition that has earned its place in the history of Italian sport.

Taranto 2026 has become Italy’s most successful Mediterranean Games ever in terms of total medals, surpassing the previous record of 193 podium finishes set at Bari 1997.

For the first time, Italy has broken through the 200-medal barrier — a feat no European country had previously achieved at a multi-sport event such as the Olympic Games, European Games or Mediterranean Games.

Italia Team topped the medal table for the sixth consecutive edition, continuing a run that began at Almería 2005, with 224 medals: 74 gold, 78 silver and 72 bronze.

That total was more than double the 111 medals won by second-placed Türkiye.

Gold for the Settebello, Italy’s men’s water polo team, took the country’s tally of titles to 74, its second-best result behind Bari 1997.

Italy’s dominance was evident across almost every sport, with 25 of the 27 National Sports Federations represented at the Games winning at least one medal — 92.6 per cent.

FIN, the Italian Swimming Federation, was the most successful, collecting 52 medals: 51 in swimming and the gold medal won in water polo.

Of the 494 Italian athletes competing at Taranto 2026, 309 reached the podium at least once: 169 women and 140 men.

In other words, 62.6 per cent of the Italian athletes competing across the various venues won at least one medal — almost two out of every three.

The Italian athlete to win the most gold medals was swimmer Alberto Razzetti, with three victories in the 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley.

Among the women, Benedetta Gava stood out in artistic gymnastics with a hat-trick of gold medals in the vault, floor exercise and team competition, while finswimmer Viola Magoga also reached the top step of the podium three times, winning the 50m bi-fins, 100m bi-fins and the 4x50m mixed bi-fins relay.

The strongest Italia Team ever honoured Taranto 2026 in the best possible way: the 20th Mediterranean Games were very much an Italian affair.