2009 Mediterranean Games

The 2009 Mediterranean Games, officially the XVI Mediterranean Games (Italian: XVI Giochi del Mediterraneo) and commonly known as Pescara 2009, was a multi-sport event held in Pescara, Italy, from 26 June to 5 July 2009. It was governed by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (ICMG) (French: Comité international des Jeux méditerranéens). A total of 3,368 athletes (2,183 men and 1,185 women) from 23 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the Games. The program included competitions in 24 different sports, including three non-Olympic, bocce, karate and water skiing, and golf, which will be reinstated as an official Olympic sport in 2016 Summer Olympics. Water skiing was introduced as a demonstration sport. Two disabled sports, athletics and swimming, were also contested in the Games. Italy became the first nation to host the Mediterranean Games three times, having previously hosted them in Naples (1963) and Bari (1997). Many events took place in several different cities.

Pescara was awarded the Games on 18 October 2003 in Almeria, Spain, host of the 2005 Mediterranean Games, defeating bids from Rijeka and Patras. The organising committee of the Games, Comitato Organizzatore dei XVI Giochi del Mediterraneo (COJM), was created in 2006 to oversee the staging of the Games. A total of 33 venues were used to host the events, including Stadio Adriatico— main stadium of the Pescara Games, hosted both the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the athletics competition and football final. The official logo of these Mediterranean Games featured simple graphical illustrations of mountains and sea of the Abruzzo region, and Marsican brown bear was chosen as the mascot of the Games.

Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini and Spanish swimmer Aschwin Wildeboer Faber set new world records in their respective evennts. A total 782 medals, 243 gold, 244 silver and 295 bronze, were awarded. Athletes from 21 countries won medals, leaving two countries without a medal, and 18 of them won at least one gold medal. Competitors from the host nation, Italy, led the medal table for the eleventh time in the history of the Games, with 64 gold medals. Montenegro participated for the first time at the Mediterranean Games, after their independence in 2006.