Mellouli gives Tunisia first Olympic gold medal in 40 years

18/08/2008

Swimmer Oussama Mellouli became the first Olympic gold medallist from Tunisia since 1968 on Sunday, beating Australia's Grant Hackett to win the men's 1,500m freestyle.

By Mona Yahia for Magharebia in Tunis – 18/08/08

[Getty Images] Oussama Mellouli is the pride of Tunisia after winning his country's first Olympic gold medal since 1968.

Tunisian swimmer Oussama Mellouli gave his country and the entire Arab world their first gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games on Sunday (August 17th), winning the men's 1,500m freestyle.

Mellouli won the gold with a time of 14:40.84, les than once second ahead of Australia's Grant Hackett, who was attempting to become the first man to win an individual race in three consecutive Olympic Games. Hackett took the silver medal with a time of 14:41.53, while Canada's Ryan Cochrane won bronze with a time of 14:42.69 seconds.

Mellouli lives and trains in the US under American coach Mark Schubert, but also works with Tunisian coach Ameur Barkia.

Abd Jlil Dachraoui, President of the Tunisian Swimming Federation, said, "It is not easy to win a medal in this sport which is almost monopolised by certain countries. It requires major material capabilities, and it's just not an easy sport. Oussama was able to control the tactic of the race; he knows how to live up to the event and how to deal with it."

"This is a precious gift to the Tunisian people," said Moncef Chalguaf, head of the Tunisian delegation in Beijing. "Our happiness is indescribable. Oussama took part in the race against the giants in this field, but his focus was huge and he was able to beat them. This is a historic achievement! Here we are, embracing gold again like we did in 1968!"

Mellouli has achieved a number of impressive results over his eight-year career. He finished fifth in the men's 400m medley in Athens in 2004 and third at the 2005 World Championships. This is his first gold medal in Olympic competition.

The 24-year-old La Marsa native, who gave Tunisia its second Olympic gold medal since runner Mohammed Gammoudi won it in the men's 5,000m race in Mexico City in 1968, also became the first Tunisian and Arab swimmer to make it to the podium in this event.

Tunisia now claims seven Olympic medals since independence. In addition to Mellouli's achievements, there were four won by Gammoudi (gold and bronze in 1968 and two silver in Tokyo in 1964 and Munich in 1972), and two bronze medals from boxers Habib Kliha (Rome 1964) and Fathi Misaoui (Atlanta 1996.)

Mellouli swam in Lane 7, against stiff competition from the world's best swimmers. He started modestly, keeping an eye on his competitors. Later in the race he changed his tempo, opting for maximum speed in the middle of the race. This way, he gradually progressed in the ranking, climbing to fourth place after 800 meters and building up to a sprint in the last third of the race, taking the lead and surprising his competitors.

"At first, I preferred to watch the rest of swimmers and not to use up all my energy in order to avoid fatigue in the last meters," Mellouli said.

"But in the second part of the race, I increased my speed, and this helped me go past all the swimmers and take the lead; something that gave me more self-confidence and a huge morale boost. From time to time, I was looking at where Australia's Hackett was to assess how much progress I had made. In spite of his strong comeback, I was able to resist and be the first swimmer to touch the wall."

Mellouli expressed his overwhelming happiness for giving Tunisia its first medal in these Olympic Games, saying that the win was the result of incessant work and huge sacrifices over more than one year.

Tunisia's swimming sensation came off an 18-month suspension in May after testing positive for the amphetamine Adderall at a 2006 meet. He received the prescription drug from a fellow student at the University of Southern California and took it two days before the drug test in order to complete an academic assignment, in what he has called an "honest mistake".

On September 11, 2007, the Court of Arbitration for Sport annulled his 800m world championship and gave him a backdated 18-month suspension, enabling him to compete in Beijing.

"I've been waiting for this moment for two years. It's the redemption I wanted and I got it. This year was difficult because of the penalty, but I thank God for the talent I've been given," AFP quoted Mellouli as saying.

"In the finals you never know what can happen, you could get last or first. At the Olympic Games anything can happen. It was a miracle and for once the miracle was for me," Mellouli said.

To second-place finisher Grant Hackett, Mellouli's victory was just. "His past is his past," he said. "He was a competitor on the blocks today... he swam a good race and good on him."

After the victory, Abdallah Kaabi, Tunisian Minister of Sports, Youth and Physical Education, offered the congratulations of the Tunisian President to Mellouli and the rest of the Tunisian Olympic team for the remarkable achievement.

Mellouli's mother Khadija said, "I travel with him to encourage him and boost his morale. He is an amazing swimmer who has loved water ever since he was a little boy," noting that "he would cry and weep when we removed him out of water when he was little."

Tunisians across the country awoke early to watch the event, held at 4:00 AM Tunisia time.

Yacine said, "This win is not just for Tunisia, but for all Arabs. We were hoping that this champion would raise the Tunisian flag in the Olympiad, and he actually did that!"

Muhsin Derbal said, "What happened with Mellouli transports us back forty years, when we would watch runner Gammoudi, or when we would wake up at 4:00 AM to watch the boxing matches of Muhammad Ali."

Walid Al Safi hoped that all Arab youth would walk in Mellouli's footsteps, turning their energies to sports and Olympic spirit.

Al Bayan ran the news under the headline, "A Shark of Gold Who Honoured Tunisia and Arabs".

"At dawn on Sunday, August 17th, 2008," the story read, "it was confirmed that Tunisia has been and will always be the breeding land of champions and stars that raise its flag high in international events."