# Athletics at the 1991 Mediterranean Games

At the 1991 Mediterranean Games, the athletics events were held at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece. A total of 38 events were contested, of which 23 by male and 15 by female athletes. An exhibition heptathlon also took place, with Algeria's Yasmina Azzizi being the only athlete to compete. Several hundred athletes from fourteen Mediterranean nations took part in the competition.
Nine nations reached the medal table, with eight of them having an athlete top the podium. Italy was dominant, taking eleven gold medals and 38 overall. France was a clear second with nine golds from a haul of 25 medals. Algeria won the next highest number of golds (five), while Spain had the third largest overall medals with thirteen. Morocco also performed well (four golds and twelve in total) as did the host nation Greece (three golds and eleven overall). A total of 22 games records were broken in Athens – this was over half of the event programme and only five field event records were unbeaten by the end of the tournament.
Hassiba Boulmerka won a middle-distance double and went on to win the 1500 metres at the World Championships a month later. Fabienne Ficher was runner-up in the 200 metres but she added two golds to her tally through victories in the relays with the French team. Ezio Madonia won the men's 100 metres and anchored the Italian team to a second gold in the 4×100 metres relay. Italy's Agnese Maffeis broke the games record in the discus throw and also won the shot put silver medal. Paraskevi Patoulidou played a role in three of Greece's medals, taking the women's 100 m gold, silver in the 100 metres hurdles and a bronze in the 4×100 m relay.
Three former Olympic champions featured in Italy's team (Maurizio Damilano, Alessandro Andrei, and Gabriella Dorio). Damilano, who set a games record, won the men's 20 kilometres walk title at that year's world championships, while men's steeplechase winner Azzedine Brahmi became a world bronze medallist in his event. Brahim Boutayeb, the reigning Olympic champion in the 10,000 metres, took the world 5000 metres bronze after his games record performance in Athens.
The games proved a launching point for many less-established athletes: the 1992 Barcelona Olympics saw Mediterranean medallists Boulmerka, Patoulidou, Khalid Skah and Daniel Plaza win an Olympic gold medal. The 1500 m runner-up Rachid El Basir repeated his placing there. Women's 400 m hurdles winner Nezha Bidouane went on to become a two-time world champion and 1500 m champion Gennaro Di Napoli later had two wins at the IAAF World Indoor Championships.

## Medal summary
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (wind: +0.5 m/s) | Ezio Madonia (ITA) | 10.27 | Yiannis Zisimides (CYP) | 10.41 | Cengiz Kavaklıoğlu (TUR) | 10.44 |
| 200 metres (wind: -1.0 m/s) | Stefano Tilli (ITA) | 20.73 | Miguel Ángel Gómez (ESP) | 20.76 | Sandro Floris (ITA) | 20.96 |
| 400 metres | Olivier Noirot (FRA) | 45.41 | Fabio Grossi (ITA) | 45.93 | Abdelali Kasbane (MAR) | 45.9 |
| 800 metres | Réda Abdenouz (ALG) | 1:47.62 | Luis Javier González (ESP) | 1:47.84 | Tonino Viali (ITA) | 1:47.86 |
| 1500 metres | Gennaro Di Napoli (ITA) | 3:42.80 | Rachid El Basir (MAR) | 3:43.06 | Zeki Öztürk (TUR) | 3:43.22 |
| 5000 metres | Brahim Boutayeb (MAR) | 13:29.64 GR | Khalid Skah (MAR) | 13:30.00 | Antonio Martins (FRA) | 13:38.08 |
| 10,000 metres | Hammou Boutayeb (MAR) | 28:24.19 GR | Francesco Bennici (ITA) | 28:38.19 | Khalid Boulami (MAR) | 28:52.84 |
| 110 metres hurdles (wind: +0.7 m/s) | Dan Philibert (FRA) | 13.56 GR | Carlos Sala (ESP) | 13.64 | Fausto Frigerio (ITA) | 13.72 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Stéphane Caristan (FRA) | 49.27 GR | Fabrizio Mori (ITA) | 49.85 | Mauro Maurizi (ITA) | 50.05 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | Azzedine Brahmi (ALG) | 8:21.58 | Alessandro Lambruschini (ITA) | 8:22.95 | Abdelaziz Sahere (MAR) | 8:24.15 |
| 4×100 metres relay | Italy (ITA) Mario Longo Carlo Simionato Sandro Floris Ezio Madonia | 39.12 | Spain (ESP) Juan Trapero Enrique Talavera Miguel Ángel Gómez Luis Turón | 39.39 | France (FRA) Antoine Richard Éric Perrot Olivier Théophile Pascal Théophile | 39.99 |
| 4×400 metres relay | Italy (ITA) Marco Vaccari Alessandro Aimar Fabio Grossi Andrea Nuti | 3:03.20 GR | Yugoslavia (YUG) Dejan Jovković Nenad Đurović Ismail Mačev Slobodan Branković | 3:03.74 | Morocco (MAR) Abdelali Kasbane Ali Dahane Bouchaib Belkaid Benyounés Lahlou | 3:03.75 |
| Marathon | Salah Qoqaiche (MAR) | 2:20:26 | Gianluigi Curreli (ITA) | 2:20:54 | Christos Sotiropoulos (GRE) | 2:24:54 |
| 20 km walk | Maurizio Damilano (ITA) | 1:22:48 GR | Daniel Plaza (ESP) | 1:23:51 | Olegario Regidor (ESP) | 1:26:45 |
| High jump | Othmane Belfaa (ALG) | 2.28 m GR | Luca Toso (ITA) | 2.26 m | Fabrizio Borellini (ITA) | 2.26 m |
| Pole vault | Philippe d'Encausse (FRA) | 5.60 m GR | Jean-Marc Tailhardat (FRA) | 5.60 m | Marco Andreini (ITA) | 5.50 m |
| Long jump | Konstandinos Koukodimos (GRE) | 8.26 m GR | Fausto Frigerio (ITA) | 8.15 m (w) | Giovanni Evangelisti (ITA) | 7.89 m |
| Triple jump | Marios Hadjiandreou (CYP) | 17.13 m GR | Alex Norca (FRA) | 16.74 m | Lotfi Khaïda (ALG) | 16.64 m |
| Shot put | Alessandro Andrei (ITA) | 19.38 m | Luciano Zerbini (ITA) | 19.25 m | Luc Viudès (FRA) | 19.05 m |
| Discus throw | Luciano Zerbini (ITA) | 60.10 m | Marco Martino (ITA) | 59.82 m | David Martinez (ESP) | 59.16 m |
| Hammer throw | Raphaël Piolanti (FRA) | 75.10 m GR | Enrico Sgrulletti (ITA) | 74.78 m | Savvas Saritzoglou (GRE) | 70.06 m |
| Javelin throw (new model) | Julián Sotelo (ESP) | 76.04 m GR | Fabio De Gaspari (ITA) | 73.10 m | Charlus Bertimon (FRA) | 72.52 m |
| Decathlon | Saša Karan (YUG) | 7771 pts GR | Alper Kasapoğlu (TUR) | 7650 pts | Efthimios Andreoglou (GRE) | 7513 pts |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (wind: +0.3 m/s) | Voula Patoulidou (GRE) | 11.48 | Maguy Nestoret (FRA) | 11.50 | Magali Simioneck (FRA) | 11.53 |
| 200 metres (wind: +0.2 m/s) | Marisa Masullo (ITA) | 23.21 GR | Fabienne Ficher (FRA) | 23.40 | Valérie Jean-Charles (FRA) | 23.52 |
| 400 metres | Julia Merino (ESP) | 51.88 GR | Véronique Poulain (FRA) | 52.85 | Francine Landre (FRA) | 53.43 |
| 800 metres | Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) | 2:01.27 | Frédérique Quentin (FRA) | 2:01.51 | Nadia Falvo (ITA) | 2:02.58 |
| 1500 metres | Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) | 4:08.17 | Irini Theodoridou (GRE) | 4:10.30 | Gabriella Dorio (ITA) | 4:10.63 |
| 3000 metres | Roberta Brunet (ITA) | 8:45.68 GR | Nadia Dandolo (ITA) | 8:46.94 | Amina Maanaoui (MAR) | 9:22.94 |
| 100 metres hurdles (wind: -0.2 m/s) | Anne Piquereau (FRA) | 12.88 GR | Voula Patoulidou (GRE) | 12.96 | María José Mardomingo (ESP) | 13.34 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Nezha Bidouane (MAR) | 55.13 GR | Irmgard Trojer (ITA) | 55.42 | Nadia Zatouani (MAR) | 57.57 |
| 4×100 metres relay | France (FRA) Magali Simioneck Maguy Nestoret Fabienne Ficher Valérie Jean-Charles | 43.66 | Italy (ITA) Marisa Masullo Donatella Dal Bianco Daniela Ferrian Rossella Tarolo | 43.67 | Greece (GRE) Kanelidou Ekaterini Koffa Marina Vasarmidou Voula Patoulidou | 44.77 |
| 4×400 metres relay | France (FRA) Elsa Devassoigne Véronique Poulain Francine Landre Fabienne Ficher | 3:31.00 GR | Italy (ITA) Roberta Rabaioli Johanna Zuddas Barbara Martinelli Cosetta Campana | 3:33.68 | Spain (ESP) Idoia Granda Gregoria Ferrer Amaia Andrés Esther Lahoz | 3:34.21 |
| High jump | Isabelle Chevallier (FRA) | 1.90 m | Niki Gavera (GRE) | 1.87 m | Niki Bakoyianni (GRE) | 1.87 m |
| Long jump | Tamara Malešev (YUG) | 6.60 m GR | Valentina Uccheddu (ITA) | 6.52 m | Isabel López (ESP) | 6.14 m |
| Shot put | Margarita Ramos (ESP) | 17.71 m | Agnese Maffeis (ITA) | 17.46 m | Mara Rosolen (ITA) | 15.95 m |
| Discus throw | Agnese Maffeis (ITA) | 59.46 m GR | Isabelle Devaluez (FRA) | 56.14 m | Agnès Teppe (FRA) | 55.80 m |
| Javelin throw (old model) | Anna Verouli (GRE) | 60.34 m | Nadine Auzeil (FRA) | 54.82 m | Aysel Taş (TUR) | 54.34 m |
| Heptathlon (exhibition event) | Yasmina Azzizi (ALG) | 6114 pts GR | Only one participant | Only one participant | Only one participant | Only one participant |

## Medal table

* Host nation (Italy)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Italy* | 11 | 17 | 10 | 38 |
| 2 | France | 9 | 8 | 8 | 25 |
| 3 | Algeria† | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | Morocco | 4 | 2 | 6 | 12 |
| 5 | Spain | 3 | 5 | 5 | 13 |
| 6 | Greece | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| 7 | Yugoslavia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Cyprus | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Turkey | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Totals (9 entries) | Totals (9 entries) | 38 | 38 | 38 | 114 |
* $^†$ Excludes Yasmina Azzizi's gold in the heptathlon, as this was an exhibition event only.

## Participation

Fifteen of the eighteen nations present at the 1991 edition of the games entered athletes into the athletics competition. Lebanon, Libya and Malta did not send any track and field athletes.
* Albania
* Algeria
* Cyprus
* Egypt
* France
* Greece
* Italy
* Morocco
* Monaco
* San Marino
* Spain
* Syria
* Tunisia
* Turkey
* Yugoslavia