Bogdan Zabelinskiy won Cyprus’ first medal at the ‘Taranto 2026’ Mediterranean Games, taking silver in the men’s individual cycling time trial after completing the 17-kilometre course in 20:14.14.
Andreas Miltiades finished 12th in the same event with a time of 21:47.44.
Portugal’s Tiago Gomes Antunes claimed gold in 20:05.95, while his compatriot Rafael Ferreira Reis took bronze, finishing just half a second behind Zabelinskiy.
In the corresponding women’s event, three-time Olympian Andri Christoforou finished 11th in a field of 17 competitors, recording a time of 25:12.55.
In swimming, Kalia Antoniou came close to adding another medal for Cyprus but ultimately finished fourth in the women’s 50m butterfly.
Having qualified for the final with a time of 26.78, Antoniou clocked a personal best of 26.41 in the evening race but narrowly missed out on the podium.
Greece’s Anna Doudounaki took gold in 26.11, followed by Italy’s Scotto di Carlo in 26.29 and Egypt’s Farida Osman in 26.32.
The Cypriot delegation continues its programme at Taranto 26 on Sunday, with 15 athletes competing across seven sports and the national handball team making its Mediterranean Games debut.
Bogdan Zabelinskiy is son of Olga Zabelinskiy, a Russian-born Uzbekistani professional racing cyclist who won three Olympic medals.
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