Emir Hamdan
Türkiye finished first after Isil Zafer and Sude Yaren Uzuncavdar won the final women’s divisions, while Firas Katousi and Soufiane Elasbi claimed the closing men’s titles.
The 2026 Mediterranean Games taekwondo competition concluded on 23 August at Palazzetto Giovanni Paolo II in Massafra. Türkiye swept the two final-day women’s divisions to finish first in the medal table, while Tunisia and Morocco divided the closing men’s titles.
Isil Zafer began her women’s -67kg campaign with a 2-1 quarter-final victory over Spain’s Helena García Suárez. The Turkish athlete then eliminated Morocco’s Nada Laaraj 2-0 and defeated Tunisia’s Wafa Masghouni 2-0 for gold. Masghouni took silver, with Laaraj and Greece’s Styliani Marentaki completing the podium.
Sude Yaren Uzuncavdar added the women’s +67kg title after beating Slovenia’s Nika Rudolf 2-0, Spain’s Ane Vallo Zurdo 2-1 and Serbia’s Andela Sevic 2-0. Sevic earned silver, while Vallo Zurdo and Greece’s Agoritsa Artemia Kitsiou received bronze.
Türkiye’s other final-day medal came from Huseyin Berat Demircioglu in men’s +80kg. He defeated North Macedonia’s Dejan Georgievski 2-1 before a 2-0 semi-final loss to Croatia’s Ivan Sapina left him with bronze.
Tunisia’s Firas Katousi, the men’s -80kg champion at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, defeated Lebanon’s Yusuf Faraj and Spain’s Mikel Fernandez Garcia 2-0. He then prevailed 2-1 against Serbia’s Stefan Takov in the semi-final and Morocco’s Haitam Zarhouti in the final. Zarhouti collected silver; Takov and Croatia’s Leon Hrgota took bronze.
Morocco’s Soufiane Elasbi won each of his four men’s +80kg contests 2-0, progressing past Italy’s Mattia Molin, Slovenia’s Patrik Divkovic, Spain’s Ivan Garcia Martinez and Ivan Sapina. Sapina finished with silver, while Garcia Martinez joined Demircioglu on the bronze-medal line.
Opening-day victories from Enes Kaplan, Elif Sude Akgul and Hatice Kubra Ilgun formed the base of Türkiye’s final total of five gold medals and one bronze. Morocco and Tunisia followed with one gold, two silver and one bronze apiece. France, whose title came through Souleyman Alaphilippe, recorded one gold and one bronze, while Croatia finished with three silver and two bronze medals. TAEKWONDO.TV’s completed 2026 Mediterranean Games record keeps the full results and linked athlete histories together for readers following the field.
