The Mediterranean Games were first held in 1951. They are held every four years and organized by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games. The games feature competition between 26 members of the committee, each of which are nations that border the Mediterranean Sea.
Badminton made its debut in the Mediterranean Games from the 2013 edition. Four events are played in badminton – men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles, and women’s doubles. All events follow the single elimination knockout draw format.
Every badminton match at the Mediterranean Games is played in the best of three sets format. A set is won when a player wins 21 points with a lead of two points. In a scenario when the scores are tied at 20-20, play continues till one of the side gets a clear advantage of two points.
In its three editions held as of 2024, nearly 13 nations have consistently participated in badminton at the Mediterranean Games. In the 2022 Mediterranean Games, players from nine countries won at least one medal in badminton. Notably, compared to the preceding edition, there was a stark difference in the total participants that dropped from 63 in 2018 to 50 in 2022.
Turkey leads the medal count in badminton with 12 medals, five of which are gold. The next best nation is France with eight medals, three of which are gold. Spain’s total tally of seven medals consists of two gold and five silver medals. The two other nations whose players secured the gold in a badminton event are Algeria and Croatia. Slovenia has also made its presence felt in badminton with four bronze medals. However, they are yet to win a gold medal.
