Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

symbolically competed at the

2022 Mediterranean Games The 2022 Mediterranean Games ( ar, ألعاب البحر الأبيض المتوسط 2022, links=, lit=, translit=ʾAlʿāb al-Baḥr al-ʾAbyaḍ al-Mutawassiṭ 2022), officially known as the XIX Mediterranean Games and commonly known as Oran ...

Oran, Algeria Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

, from 25 June to 6 July 2022. The nation's appearance at these games marked its debut in the

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fir ...

and in any international multi-sport event. After being present as observers in the

2019 Games of the Small States of Europe The 2019 Games of the Small States of Europe, also known as the XVIII Games of the Small States of Europe, took place in Budva, Montenegro, from 27 May to 1 June 2019. Development and preparation After the Games, ''The Malta Independent'' repo ...

and as guests in the

2022 Championships of the Small States of Europe The 2022 Championships of the Small States of Europe was the fourth edition of the biennial competition in outdoor track and field organised by the Athletic Association of Small States of Europe (AASE). It was held on 11 June 2022 at the Matthew Mi ...

, the delegation was invited by local organizers to compete in the 2022 Mediterranean Games and fielded one athlete in the sport of athletics, who competed in the women's half marathon. Since the nation's participation in the Games was unofficial and symbolic, the delegation's results were recorded in a "non-scoring" way.

Background

Before the country's participation at the Games, a Vatican delegation was present at the

Budva, Montenegro Budva ( cnr, Будва, or ) is a Montenegrin town on the Adriatic Sea. It has 19,218 inhabitants, and it is the centre of Budva Municipality. The coastal area around Budva, called the Budva riviera, is the center of Montenegrin tourism, know ...

, as observers, as they were barred from competing due to the absence of a

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

. They were then scheduled to officially compete at the 2021 Games of the Small States of Europe held in Andorra la Vella, Andorra, through a partnership with the

Italian Olympic Committee The Italian National Olympic Committee ( it, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in Italy. ...

signed in 2018, but the event was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and to avoid scheduling conflicts with the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, which were rescheduled to be held in 2021 in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. The nation was also present at the

, held in

Marsa, Malta Marsa ( mt, Il-Marsa) is a town in the South Eastern Region of Malta, with a population of 4,401 people as of March 2014. The name Marsa means " the harbour".

, an athletics competition composed of member countries of the

Athletic Association of Small States of Europe The Athletic Association of Small States of Europe (AASSE) is a transnational organization representing the athletic interests of smaller European nations. It was created following a proposal by the Cyprus, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg ...

. Sara Carnicelli, one of the runners on the team, unofficially placed third in the women's 5000 metres. However, the team was unplaced as team members were guests and were recorded in a "non-scoring" way, so the results had no effect on the ranking. The two members, Sara Carnicelli and Emiliano Morbidelli, were awarded with honorary medals.

Delegation

The nation was invited by the local organizers of the Games and was supported by

Davide Tizzano Davide Tizzano (born 21 May 1968 in Naples) is a retired rower from Italy and a double Olympic gold medalist. He won his first gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, in the quadruple scull. Eight years later he formed a team with Agost ...

, the president of the

International Committee of Mediterranean Games The International Committee of Mediterranean Games (french: Comité international des Jeux méditerranéens, ''CIJM'') is the organization of the National Olympic Committees who presides, regulates and organizes the Mediterranean Games. It is based ...

, citing it as a "symbolic opportunity". The delegation consisted of three people: the head of the Vatican's sports department in the culture ministry, ; runner Sara Carnicelli, who got eligibility to represent the Vatican through her mother being an employee as an administrative worker in the nation; and runner Simone Adamoli, who was also set to compete but withdrew before his event.

Athletics

Following Adamoli's withdrawal from his event, the Vatican's sole athlete, Sara Carnicelli, competed in the women's half marathon alongside competitors such as Olympians Rkia El Moukim from

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Souad Aït Salem Souad Aït Salem, also known as Souad Aït Mahour-Bacha (born 6 January 1979 in Mécheria, Algeria) is an Algerian long-distance runner who specializes mainly in the half marathon and marathon. She won gold in the 10,000 metres at the 2000 Africa ...

from

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, and eventual winner Giovanna Epis from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Her event started on July 1 at the

Miloud Hadefi Stadium Miloud Hadefi Stadium () is a multi-use stadium in Belgaïd, in the Bir El Djir suburb of Oran, Algeria. Completed in 2019, it is used mostly for football matches. It has a capacity of 40,143 people. The value of construction work of the stadi ...

, and she eventually ended the race in 1:17:21, placing ninth unofficially. However, she is unplaced in the ranks as the nation was invited as guests and their results were recorded in a "non-scoring" manner. After her participation in the race, she became the first athlete to compete for the

in any international

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...

. ;Track & road events

References

External links

* {{Nations at 2022 Mediterranean Games Nations at the 2022 Mediterranean Games 2022 in Vatican City Sport in Vatican City

Background

Delegation

Athletics

See also

References

External links