A flag traveling from Taranto to Portugal, with a stop on Titano as well. João Pereira, Portuguese Olympic triathlete and ambassador for the Portimão-Lagoa 2027 Mediterranean Beach Games, arrived in San Marino as part of a journey through various European locations to accompany and promote the flag of the event’s next edition.
The journey began at the Capo San Vito lighthouse in Taranto and will end on 18 September in Portimão. Pereira was chosen as ambassador by the Portuguese Olympic Committee and boasts an outstanding career: gold at the 2018 Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, two European titles and two Olympic appearances, at London 2012 and Rio 2016.
He was welcomed on Titano by Eros Bologna, secretary general of the National Olympic Committee of San Marino (CONS), together with Camilla Sansovini and Sofia Fratti, San Marino finswimming athletes who took part in the Taranto 2026 Mediterranean Games. Finswimming is a discipline in which San Marino has also competed in recent editions of the Mediterranean Beach Games.
After passing through San Marino’s historic city centre, Pereira and the delegation reached Piazzale Giovanni Paolo II in Serravalle. It was there that the Portuguese triathlete presented Sansovini and Fratti with the official flag bearing the Portimão-Lagoa 2027 logo.
The visit continued at the headquarters of the National Olympic Committee of San Marino, where Pereira toured the facility and offices. The stop on Titano also became an opportunity for discussion with Eros Bologna on the San Marino sports movement and preparations for the Mediterranean Beach Games, scheduled from 11 to 18 September 2027.
Behind the journey lies a symbolic thread linking the Taranto 2026 edition to the upcoming event in Portugal. “Water itself will symbolically unite the Taranto 2026 Mediterranean Games with the upcoming Mediterranean Beach Games,” the statement reads. “The concept for the 2027 edition is in fact inspired by the motto ‘Carried by Light, United by Water’: a light departing from Taranto and crossing the Mediterranean all the way to Portugal, symbolically accompanied by water from the participating countries, in an ideal journey between the shores of a sea that has united peoples and civilizations for millennia.”
The route is also represented by two lighthouses: Capo San Vito, the starting point, and Ponta do Altar, the finish line. “Two symbolic places,” the CONS points out, “that respectively represent the start and the end of this journey toward Portimão-Lagoa 2027.”
