Mediterranean Games (Taranto 2026): National Technical Director Lauds Morocco’s Historic Run


Luanda: The Moroccan national boxing team “wrote history” at the Mediterranean Games (Taranto 2026) by winning six medals, including two golds, stated Gabriele Martelli, the National Technical Director of the Royal Moroccan Boxing Federation (FRMB), on Friday evening.



According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, in a statement to the press upon the Moroccan delegation’s arrival at Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca, Martelli highlighted the two titles won by Sada Lahmidi (-70 kg) and Soulaimane Samghouli (-65 kg), as well as the silver medal of Widad Bertal (-54 kg) and the three bronze medals secured by Mounia Toutir (-65 kg), Yasmine Mouttaki (-51 kg), and Abdelhak Nadir (-70 kg).



He emphasized that these performances were achieved after only two months of preparation, noting that the work carried out with the Moroccan athletes is based on a demanding methodology that integrates discipline, psychological preparation, nutrition, and physical conditioning. In this regard, he shared the ambition to continue this momentum through a vast national boxing development plan, with the goal of improving the performances of Moroccan pugilists and “making history year after year.”



For his part, the vice-president of the FRMB, Nabil Hilmi, described this participation as “exceptional,” both in terms of the number and the quality of the medals obtained, recalling that Morocco had not won two gold medals in a single edition of the Mediterranean Games since 1987. He also noted the special significance of the women’s gold medal won by Sada Lahmidi, a first for Moroccan boxing in this competition, considering the results recorded in Taranto to be a positive indicator regarding the national team’s level of preparation for upcoming events.



Hilmi specified that these Games represent an important step in the preparation for upcoming international events, notably the World Championship, the African Championship, and the African qualifying events for the Olympic Games. For her part, gold medalist Sada Lahmidi said she was particularly happy with this achievement, obtained at the end of a competition she described as “very difficult,” emphasizing that solidarity and cohesion within the national team played an important role in achieving this performance.



She attributed this result to the efforts made during training camps, praising the support of the FRMB, the National Technical Director, and all the technical staff, before dedicating her victory to her family and to the Moroccans who supported the national team. Echoing this sentiment, Soulaimane Samghouli, gold medalist in the under 65 kg category, expressed his great satisfaction after this triumph, highlighting the high level of the competition, which was marked by the participation of several leading nations in the discipline.



The boxing competitions at the Taranto Mediterranean Games concluded on Thursday, allowing Morocco to finish in third place in the discipline’s medal table, behind first-place Spain and the host country, Italy, in second.