2009 Mediterranean Games medal table

The 2009 Mediterranean Games, officially known as the XVI Mediterranean Games (Italian: XVI Giochi del Mediterraneo), was a multi-sport event held in Pescara, Italy, from 26 June to 5 July 2009.^[1] A record total of 3,368 athletes—2,183 men and 1,185 women—representing 23 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the Games. The number of competing NOCs was the highest in Mediterranean Games history, alongside Tunis 2001.^[1]

Athletes from every participating NOC, except Andorra and Lebanon, won medals. Among the medalling NOCs, 18 won at least one gold medal.^[2] Tunisian swimmer Oussama Mellouli won five gold medals, making him the most successful athlete of the Pescara 2009 Games.^[3][4][5] French gymnast Youna Dufournet won four golds and one silver, becoming the most decorated female athlete at these Games.^[5][6] In the 400 metres freestyle event, Athens Olympics silver medallist Federica Pellegrini of Italy won gold andbroke the world record.^[7][8] She won a second gold medal as part of the relay team in the 4×100 metres freestyle event.^[8][9] Spanish swimmer Aschwin Wildeboer Faber set a new world record in the 100 metres backstroke and won four gold medals.^[7][10] Maltese shooter William Chetcuti won his nation's only medal, a silver in the men's double trap.^[11] Yann Siccardi won the only medal for Monaco at the 2009 Mediterranean Games, a silver in the men's 60 kg event of judo.^[12]

A total of 782 medals (243 gold, 244 silver and 295 bronze) were awarded. Athletics, swimming, weightlifting and wrestling accounted for almost half of the total medals awarded.^{[13][14][15][16]}Five NOCs—Greece, Tunisia, Morocco, Cyprus and San Marino—improved their position in the medal table compared to the 2005 Mediterranean Games. The host nation, Italy, topped the medal table for a record eleventh time in the history of the Games, having collected 64 gold medals; it also secured the most bronze medals (63) and the most medals overall (176). The Italian delegation also obtained the most medals in athletics,^[13] bowls,^[17] boxing,^[18] canoeing,^[19] fencing,^[20] karate,^[21] road cycling,^[22] rowing,^[23] shooting,^[24] swimming and volleyball,^[14][25] and tied for the most in football,^[26] judo,^[27] rhythmic gymnastics and water polo.^[28][29] France led the silver medal count with 53, and with 48 golds, 39 bronzes and a total of 140 medals, finished second on the medal table. Spanish athletes claimed 83 medals in total (including 28 gold), earning third spot on the table.^[2][30]