Marios Georgiou won gold in the horizontal bar and silver in the parallel bars, while Neofytos Kyriakou took bronze in the horizontal bar, as Cyprus’s gymnastics team closed its campaign at the 20th Mediterranean Games in Taranto 2026.
The final day of artistic gymnastics brought Cyprus three more medals, rounding out a strong showing for the sport. With Thursday’s results, the Cyprus Olympic Committee’s delegation returned with 18 medals in total: seven gold, six silver and five bronze.
Georgiou takes silver in parallel bars despite tying for first
Tie-break scoring rules meant Georgiou missed out on gold in the parallel bars, which instead went to Turkey’s Altan Dogan. The Turkish athlete’s declared difficulty score was 5.300, with an execution score of 8.700, while Georgiou’s declared difficulty was 5.400, with an execution score of 8.600. Both athletes tied on 14.000 points overall; under the rules, ties are broken in favour of whoever executed their originally declared programme most accurately.
In the two other finals, Socratis Pilakouris (rings) and Neofytos Kyriakou (vault) both finished fifth, rounding out a strong showing from the gymnastics team.
Georgiou did not compete in the morning rings final, having already been under strain from competing in the team event on Monday and the all-around on Tuesday, so as to focus on the evening finals in the parallel and horizontal bars. He was also carrying hand injuries, including torn skin on his palm, from the three days of continuous competition.
Horizontal bar: Cyprus’s standout moment
The evening closed with the horizontal bar final and a standout Cypriot result. Georgiou, competing second, delivered a strong routine and scored 14.200, enough to win gold. Kyriakou, competing last, executed his routine cleanly and scored 13.100 to take bronze.
The medal ceremonies for both the horizontal and parallel bars were presented by Yiotis Ioannidis, Treasurer of the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games and Secretary-General of the Cyprus Olympic Committee.
Georgiou: nine medals, five gold
With gold in the horizontal bar and silver in the parallel bars, Georgiou reached nine career medals at the Mediterranean Games, making him Cyprus’s most decorated athlete in the event’s history. With four gold medals at these Games alone, he also became the first Cypriot athlete to reach that total.
Georgiou’s nine Mediterranean Games medals
Tarragona 2018: All-around, gold; horizontal bar, gold; parallel bars, silver; pommel horse, bronze
Oran 2022: Horizontal bar, gold; all-around, bronze
Taranto 2026: All-around, gold; horizontal bar, gold; parallel bars, silver
Georgiou also became the second Cypriot athlete, after Eleni Artymata, to win gold at three consecutive editions of the Games.
Results
Artistic gymnastics, Grottaglie Sports Hall
Rings (men’s final): Socratis Pilakouris, 13.500, 5th place
Vault (men’s final): Neofytos Kyriakou, 13.650 (13.950, 13.350), 5th place
Parallel bars (men’s final): Marios Georgiou, 14.000, 2nd, silver medal
Horizontal bar (men’s final): Marios Georgiou, 14.200, 1st, gold medal
Horizontal bar (men’s final): Neofytos Kyriakou, 13.100, 3rd, bronze medal
