Swimmer Kalia Antoniou on Monday night won Cyprus’ first gold medal of this year’s Mediterranean Games in the Italian city of Taranto, winning the 100m freestyle final for the second time in her career.

Antoniou, who won the same event in 2022, recorded a time of 54.6 seconds to take the gold medal, finishing just 0.07 seconds ahead of Italy’s Chiara Tarantino, who took the silver medal, while Spain’s Ainho Campabadal Amezcua took the bronze medal with a time of 55.4 seconds.

“I had two goals, to achieve a personal best and to win the gold medal. I managed to achieve one and I am very happy and proud of my first gold [of the games] for Cyprus. Tomorrow, I will compete in the 50m freestyle and I hope to achieve both of my goals there,” she said afterwards.

In winning gold, Antoniou ensured that Cyprus has continued its record of winning at least one gold medal at every Mediterranean Games since the turn of the century, with the island last going a whole games without winning a gold medal when the games were held in the Italian city of Bari in 1997.

She will return to action on Tuesday morning, while in the men’s 50m freestyle event, both her brother Nikolas Antoniou and Andrew Marcus Laghoutis will take to the pool, and later in the day, Maria Erokhina will compete for the island in the women’s 200m individual medley final.

Away from swimming, the island’s men’s handball team will face Tunisia on Tuesday evening, looking to bounce back from a 33-24 defeat against Algeria in their first game on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Maria Sokolova and Maria Avgousti will compete for the island in gymnastics, and padel players Sergios Kyratzis and Maria Siopacha will face Portugal in the mixed doubles quarterfinal.

Meanwhile, trap shooters Yiannis Ailiotis and Andreas Makri will also be in competition.