The 1959 Mediterranean Games, officially known as the III Mediterranean Games, and commonly known as Beirut 1959, were the 3rd

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 ...

. After visiting

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, the Mediterranean Games were for the first time held in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, thus completing the trio of continents belonging to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. The Games took place over 12 days, from 11 to 23 October 1959. There were 792 athletes (all men) from 11

countries A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state (polity), state, nation, or other polity, political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, so ...

participating. There were a total of 106 medal events from 17 different

sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

s. At the end of the competition, France was on top again. The United Arab Republic (UAR), participating for the first time, came in second, and Turkey came third.

Participating nations

The following is a list of nations that participated in the 1959 Mediterranean Games: * (66) * (69) * (55) * (180) * (2) * (14) * (83) * (28) * (91) * (162) * (42)

Sports

The 1959 Mediterranean Games sports program featured 106 men-only events in 16 sports. The number in parentheses next to the sport is the number of medal events per sport. Three sports from the 1955 games – field hockey, roller hockey and rugby – were all dropped from the program. Rowing competition also was not held. In wrestling, 8 Freestyle events returned having skipped 1955, and in sailing only one event was held (down from three in 1955). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Medal table

External links

1959 – BEYROUTH (LIB)
at

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 ...

official web site
Mediterranean Games Athletic results at gbrathletics website
{{Mediterranean Games

M Multi-sport events in Lebanon Mediterranean Games, 1959 Mediterranean Games by year Mediterranean Games, 1959