Vatican City at the 2022 Mediterranean Games - Wikipedia

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Vatican City at the 2022 Mediterranean Games

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Sporting event delegation<br>Vatican City at the<br>2022 Mediterranean GamesNational federationVatican AthleticsWebsiteathleticavaticana.orgin Oran, Algeria<br>25 June 2022 (2022-06-25) – 6 July 2022 (2022-07-06)Competitors1 (1 woman) in 1 sportOfficials1Medals<br>Gold<br>Silver<br>Bronze<br>Total<br>Mediterranean Games appearances (overview)2022

Vatican City competed as guests at the 2022 Mediterranean Games, which were held in Oran, Algeria, from 25 June to 6 July 2022. The nation's appearance at these games marked its debut in the Mediterranean Games, and its debut in any international multi-sport event. The team consisted of one athlete, long-distance runner Sara Carnicelli, and two officials, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education Melchor Sánchez de Toca Alameda [es] and coach and technical director of Vatican Athletics Claudio Carmosino. Middle-distance runner Simone Adamoli was supposed to join the delegation but withdrew before the Games had started.

In 2019, the federation Vatican Athletics had been established by an agreement between the Vatican and the Italian National Olympic Committee, to enable possible participation at international sporting tournaments such as the Summer Olympics and Mediterranean Games. Plans to compete at the 2021 Games of the Small States of Europe were halted although the federation was later invited by the Organizing Committee of the 2022 Mediterranean Games to send a guest delegation. There, Carnicelli competed in the women's half marathon and unofficially placed ninth in the event.

Background

Vatican City and the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) had an agreement to set up an official athletics team to allow the nation to possibly be represented in international sporting competitions such as the Summer Olympics and Mediterranean Games.[1] Prior to this, delegations from Vatican City were present at the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2018 Winter Olympics as observers.[2] The federation Vatican Athletics was established on 10 January 2019 through the agreement, with initial accredited members that included Swiss Guards, nuns, priests, museum workers, and maintenance workers, as well as two migrant Muslim Africans as honorary members.[1][3] Although not affiliated with World Athletics,[4] the organization is affiliated with the Italian Athletics Federation. It is the first sports team to have legal status and is the first official sporting association within the nation.[1][5]

Through Vatican Athletics, a delegation representing the nation was present at the 2019 Games of the Small States of Europe in Budva but was only allowed to observe as they were barred from competing due to the absence of a National Olympic Committee.[6][7][8] A team representing the nation were set to compete at the 2021 Games of the Small States of Europe to be held in Andorra la Vella through a partnership with CONI signed in 2018,[7] but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to avoid scheduling conflicts with the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were rescheduled to be held in 2021 in Tokyo.[9] Vatican delegations were also present at the 2021 and 2022 editions of the Championships of the Small States of Europe,[10][11] an athletics competition organized by the Athletic Association of Small States of Europe, albeit in a non-scoring manner as they were invited as guests rather than official participants.[12]

The 2022 Mediterranean Games were originally scheduled to take place from 25 June to 5 July 2021 in Oran, Algeria, but were rescheduled to 25 June to 5 July 2022 due to COVID-19.[13] This edition of the Games marked the Vatican City's first appearance at the Mediterranean Games and the first time the nation competed at a multi-sport event, albeit as a guest team.[14]

Delegation

A guest delegation representing Vatican City through Vatican Athletics was invited by the Organizing Committee of the 2022 Mediterranean Games, a decision supported by the president of the International Committee of Mediterranean Games, Davide Tizzano.[14] To compete as a member of Vatican Athletics, athletes had to either be: citizens of the nation, priests or students aspiring to be priests directly connected to the nation, an employee, or the relative of an employee working inside the nation.[15][16]

Italian runners Simone Adamoli, the son of an employee at the Governor's Palace,[10] and Sara Carnicelli, the daughter of an administrative employee,[a] were initially entered as the two athletes of the team.[14] Adamoli and Carnicelli previously represented the nation, competing at different editions of the Championships of the Small States of Europe.[19][17] Adamoli did not earn a podium finish in his event[b][19]...