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 first Mediterranean Games were held in 1951 in Alexandria, Egypt, while the most recent games were held in 2022 in Oran, Algeria.
Sport in Albania revolves mostly around team sports, such as football, basketball, volleyball and handball. Other sports includes boxing, weightlifting, tennis, swimming, judo, karate, athletics, table tennis, rugby, cricket, and chess. Football in particular has seen a rapid transformation, with the Albania national football team making its debut at the 1964 UEFA European Football Championship. The national football team also qualified for the 2016 UEFA European Football Championship. Many Albanian athletes have also achieved significant success and have won European and Mediterranean titles in numerous sports during the years, such as wrestling, football, athletics and weightlifting. Albanian athletes have won a total 49 medals for Albania in 8 different Mediterranean sports. Albania has had some success in others sport such as volleyball and basketball as well.
Israel has competed at the Olympic Games as a nation since 1952. Its National Olympic Committee was formed in 1933, during the British Mandate of Palestine. Israel has sent a team to each Summer Olympic Games since 1952, and to each Winter Olympic Games since 1994. The country became a member of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in 1994.
Albania first participated at the Summer Olympic Games in 1972. They missed the next four games, three of them for political reasons due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott, 1984 Summer Olympics boycott and 1988 boycotts, but returned for the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics. They have appeared in all games since then. They made their Winter Olympic Games debut in 2006. Albania normally competes in events that include swimming, athletics, weightlifting, shooting, and wrestling. The country has not yet won any Olympic medal. Along with Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta and Monaco, Albania is one of five current European participants that have never won an Olympic medal. They have been represented by the Albanian National Olympic Committee since 1972.
The Olympic Committee of Kosovo is the National Olympic Committee representing Kosovo. Officially established in 1992, the OCK became a full member of the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Movement on 9 December 2014. It is responsible for Kosovo's participation at the Olympic Games.
Kosovo made its Olympic debut as a member state in 2016. Its team is organized by the Olympic Committee of Kosovo (OCK), created in 1992 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 9 December 2014. It won its first medal in its debut appearance in 2016, when judoka Majlinda Kelmendi took gold in the women's -52 kg category. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Nora Gjakova won gold in the women's judo -57 kg class, and Distria Krasniqi won gold in the women's judo -48 kg class.
Kosovo was a part of several international sports federations in the 1990s, and has applied to become a member of many more after its 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia.
Sport in Kosovo has established tradition and plays a prominent role in society. Popular sports in Kosovo include football, basketball, volleyball, handball, and rugby, whereas major individual sports include wrestling, judo, swimming, boxing, karate and skiing.
The following medal table is a list of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and one non-NOC team ranked by the number of gold medals won by their athletes during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, from 5 to 21 August 2016.
Majlinda Kelmendi is a Kosovan-Albanian former judoka and judo coach.
Judo at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo featured around 393, 128 judoka competing in 15 events, seven each for both men and women as well as a new mixed team event. The 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the judo competitions were held in July 2021 at Nippon Budokan.
Serbia competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was the nation's fourth appearance at the Summer Olympics as an independent country. The Olympic Committee of Serbia confirmed a roster of 103 athletes, 58 men and 45 women, to compete across 14 sports at the Games.
Kosovo participated at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was represented by the Olympic Committee of Kosovo (KOK/OKK) with a delegation of eight people, including three men and five women. Most of them were awarded places in their respective sporting events through wild card entries and Tripartite Commission invitations. Two Kosovar athletes, on the other hand, qualified directly for the Olympics on merit: judoka Nora Gjakova and Majlinda Kelmendi, the lone returning Olympian on the team after representing Albania four years earlier in London. The world's top-ranked judoka in her weight category and the frontrunner for the country's first Olympic medal, Kelmendi was selected to become Kosovo's flag bearer in the opening ceremony.
Nora Gjakova is a Kosovan judoka. She received a gold medal after winning the women's 57-kg judo competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. In August 2021, she was awarded the Honor of the Nation Decoration of Albania by the President of Albania.
Albania has competed at every celebration of the Mediterranean Games since the 1987 Mediterranean Games. As of 2022, Albanian athletes have won a total of 49 medals. The country's ranking in the history of the Games is the 17th place.
Loriana Kuka is a Kosovan judoka. She won Judo Grand Prix in Tbilisi (2019), Tashkent (2018) and Antalya (2018). She represented Kosovo at the 2019 European Games in Minsk and won the bronze medal in –78 kg. She won the bronze medal in the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo
Distria Krasniqi is a Kosovar judoka. She received a gold medal in the women's 48-kg judo competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. In August 2021, she was awarded the Honor of the Nation Decoration of Albania by the President of Albania.
Kosovo (KOS) competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, represented by the Olympic Committee of Kosovo (KOK/OKK). The nation had previously participated in the Summer Olympic Games on one occasion in 2016. A total of 11 athletes, five men and six women, were selected by the national committee to compete in six sports. Initially scheduled to take place during the summer of 2020, the games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021 in relation to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Akil Gjakova is a Kosovan judoka. He is a gold medalist at the Mediterranean Games and the European Judo Championships.
Monaco first appeared in the quadrennial Mediterranean Games event in 1955 in Barcelona. After missing two editions in 1967 and 1971, the country has consistently appeared at every event since 1975. As of 2018, Monegasque athletes have won a total of four medals.
Yugoslavia (1951–1991)
Serbia and Montenegro (1997–2005)
Serbia (2009–)
