Three titles, ten categories closed at PalaWojtyla
Wednesday, 2 September 2026, brought the karate programme of the XX Mediterranean Games in Taranto to a close inside the PalaWojtyla in Martina Franca. After seven champions on opening day, the final session decided the three remaining weight categories — Men −84 kg, Men +84 kg and Women +68 kg — and completed a ten-category kumite board that stretched across two concentrated competition days.
Egypt leave Martina Franca at the head of the karate medal table. Morocco and Algeria round out a strong Maghreb presence on Day 2, Portugal claim a first Mediterranean Games karate gold through Ana Rita Oliveira, and host Italy close the programme with six medals from Day 1 and none from Day 2 — volume without a title, as FIJLKAM summarised after the last bout.
Men −84 kg: Sriti’s gold, Libya’s silver, Maghreb breadth
The −84 kg final belonged to Morocco. Mehdi Sriti defeated Mohamed Abudabous of Libya 5–1, a result reported by Assabah as Morocco’s second karate gold of these Games after Chaimae Elhayti’s Day 1 title in Women −55 kg. Abudabous still walked away with silver — Libya’s first medal on the Taranto karate board — after a campaign that had already carried him into the decisive bout.
The bronze places stayed Maghrebi and Egyptian. Youssef Badawy of Egypt blanked Loizos Vasileiou of Cyprus 8–0 in one bronze bout, a scoreline underlined by Cypriot coverage that also framed Vasileiou’s run as part of a historic Cypriot presence at these Games. Faleh Midoune of Algeria took the other bronze, as Algerie360 noted in its Taranto medal wrap. Semi-final colour from the federations fills in the path: Sriti had shut out Milos Gashi of Albania 4–0 on the way to the final, while Badawy reached the bronze bout after losing in the semi-finals; Italy’s Fiore beat France’s Lardjoum before falling to Badawy in the quarter-finals, a sequence confirmed by both FIJLKAM and the FFKDA.
Men +84 kg: Mahmoud edges Kvesić; Aktaş and Daikhi for bronze
The heavyweight final ran to the wire. Egypt’s Taha Tarek Mahmoud defeated Croatia’s Anđelo Kvesić 4–3, a bout in which Kvesić had led 3–1 before the Egyptian turned the score — the reading carried by Jabuka and Hina as Croatia’s latest medal of the Games. Silver for Kvesić still capped a deep path through the bracket: a 5–4 win over Montenegro’s Jovović, a 1–1 hantei decision against Algeria’s Hocine Daikhi, and an 8–0 shutout of Albania’s Pakashtica.
Bronze split between Türkiye and Algeria. Uğur Aktaş beat Italy’s Matteo Avanzini in the bronze bout, leaving Avanzini fifth on the Italian sheet according to FIJLKAM; Hocine Daikhi recovered from the hantei loss to Kvesić to take the other bronze, 5–2 against an Albanian opponent, as Algerie360 reported. For Egypt, Mahmoud’s gold added a third title to Tolba’s and Abdelaziz’s Day 1 women’s golds and locked Egypt at the top of the final karate standings.
Women +68 kg: Oliveira’s first Portuguese MG karate gold
The women’s heavyweight story of the Games belongs to Portugal. Ana Rita Oliveira defeated Montenegro’s Jovana Damjanović 4–3 in the final — Portugal’s first karate medal at the Mediterranean Games, celebrated by RTP and Lusa as a landmark for the national programme. Damjanović’s silver was no soft landing: her path included a 4–3 win over Egypt’s Okila, a hantei decision against Türkiye’s Fatma Çekiç, and a 10–5 victory over Greece’s Kydonaki, a run tracked by Montenegrin coverage as one of the country’s stronger combat-sport performances in Taranto.
Bronze went to Fatma Çekiç of Türkiye, who had lost to Damjanović in the quarter-finals before reclaiming a podium place through the repechage — a result reflected in the EN Wikipedia medalists table aggregating Taranto 2026 official results — and to Theodosia Giamouki of Cyprus, whose bronze was highlighted by Politis and the Cyprus Olympic Committee as part of a historic Cypriot organisation and medal day. Kosovo’s Fortesa Orana was disqualified in the semi-final against Oliveira and thereby lost her right to contest bronze, as Katror reported.
Host and French exits framed the early rounds without changing the podium. Italy’s Ferracuti fell 8–7 to Çekiç in the opening round; France’s Péa exited against Ben Taieb of Tunisia and then Kydonaki of Greece — exits only, as the FFKDA’s Day 2 note recorded.
Across two days: Egypt lead; Italy’s six without gold
With all ten weight categories decided, the karate medal table at Taranto 2026 reads as a Maghreb-and-Egypt story at the top, with a long international tail. Egypt finish 3–0–2; Morocco 2–0–3; Algeria 1–0–2; France 1–0–1; Kosovo, Portugal and North Macedonia each 1–0–0. Türkiye and Italy share the deepest silver-and-bronze sheets at 0–3–3; Croatia sit 0–2–1; Montenegro 0–1–1; Libya 0–1–0; Bosnia and Herzegovina 0–0–2; Greece and Cyprus 0–0–1.
The Day 1 golds that built that picture remain the ones reported by the WKF’s opening-day wrap: Selmani (KOS) in Men −60 kg, Belistojanoski (MKD) in Men −67 kg, Cizo (FRA) in Men −75 kg, Ouikene (ALG) in Women −50 kg, Elhayti (MAR) in Women −55 kg, Tolba (EGY) in Women −61 kg and Abdelaziz (EGY) in Women −68 kg. Day 2 added Sriti, Mahmoud and Oliveira.
For the hosts, FIJLKAM’s closing line is unambiguous: six medals across the karate programme, all from Day 1 (three silvers, three bronzes), zero on the final day, and no gold in Martina Franca. Volume without a title is the Italian karate story of these Games.
France’s note across both days stays short and sourced: Kilian Cizo’s Men −75 kg gold and Silya Abdesselem’s Women −55 kg bronze on Day 1; Day 2 limited to early exits for Lardjoum, Confiac and Péa, with no further medals. The wider narrative of Taranto’s karate block remains the international field that filled PalaWojtyla for two days.
Final Day 2 podiums
Men −84 kg — Gold: Mehdi Sriti (MAR) 5–1 vs Mohamed Abudabous (LBA). Bronze: Youssef Badawy (EGY) 8–0 vs Loizos Vasileiou (CYP); Faleh Midoune (ALG).
Men +84 kg — Gold: Taha Tarek Mahmoud (EGY) 4–3 vs Anđelo Kvesić (CRO). Bronze: Uğur Aktaş (TUR) vs Matteo Avanzini (ITA); Hocine Daikhi (ALG) 5–2 vs Albanian opponent.
Women +68 kg — Gold: Ana Rita Oliveira (POR) 4–3 vs Jovana Damjanović (MNE). Bronze: Fatma Çekiç (TUR); Theodosia Giamouki (CYP).
Ten categories, two days, PalaWojtyla closed. Egypt head the board; Oliveira’s gold gives Portugal its first Mediterranean Games karate title; Italy bank six medals without climbing the top step.
Sources
- WKF Day 1 seven champions: https://www.wkf.net/news-center-new/seven-champions-crowned-on-opening-day-of-karate-at-mediterranean-games-taranto-2026/3265
- Assabah (Sriti gold): https://assabah.ma/947253.html
- RTP (Oliveira gold): https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/outras-modalidades/taranto2026-karateca-ana-rita-oliveira-ouro-na-categoria-de-68-kg_d1762957
- Jabuka (Kvesić silver): https://www.jabuka.tv/andelo-kvesic-osvojio-srebro-i-donio-hrvatskoj-38-medalju-na-mediteranskim-igrama/
- FIJLKAM (Italy Day 2 / six medals total): https://www.fijlkam.it/karate/news-karate/11673-karate-sfuma-il-podio-nell%E2%80%99ultima-giornata,-l%E2%80%99italia-chiude-con-sei-medaglie-ai-giochi-del-mediterraneo.html
- FFKDA (France Day 2 exits): https://www.ffkarate.fr/jeux-mediterraneens-jour-2/
- Elaosboa (Egypt / Mahmoud context): https://www.elaosboa.com/2944912/
- Vijesti (Damjanović silver path): https://en.vijesti.me/sports-e/combat-sports/824837/Fantastic-performance-by-Jovana-Damjanovic--Montenegrin-karateka-wins-silver-at-the-World-Championships
- Politis (Giamouki bronze): https://www.gipedo.politis.com.cy/alla-sport/1030064/mesogheiaki-aghwnes-xalkino-ghia-tin-giamouki-kai-istoriki-diorghanosi-ghia-tin-kypro
- Algerie360 (Midoune / Daikhi bronzes): https://www.algerie360.com/kaylia-nemour-double-la-mise-a-taranto-lalgerie-enrichit-son-tableau-de-medailles/
- Katror (Orana DQ): https://katror.info/en/Orana-is-disqualified-in-the-semifinals-and-remains-without-a-medal./
- EN Wikipedia medalists / full table (Çekiç bronze; Microplus boards CloudFront 403 from our environment): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karate_at_the_2026_Mediterranean_Games
- karate.news Day 1 live: https://karate.news/en/articles/taranto-2026-mediterranean-games-karate-day-1-seven-titles-palawojtyla
