Tunisia's Ahmed Hafnaoui pulls off upset to win gold medal in 400-metre freestyle

Tunisia's Ahmed Hafnaoui pulled off a major shock on the opening day of the Tokyo Olympics swimming medal events on Sunday with a stunning victory in the men's 400m freestyle.

'I just can't believe it... it was my best race ever,' says 18-year-old swimmer

Ahmed Hafnaoui of Team Tunisia celebrates after winning the gold medal in the Men's 400m Freestyle Final on day two of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Tunisia's Ahmed Hafnaoui pulled off a major shock on the opening day of the Tokyo Olympics swimming medal events on Sunday in Tokyo with a stunning victory in the men's 400m freestyle.

The 18-year-old Hafnaoui, in the outside lane after being the slowest in qualifying, produced a blistering finish to pip Australia's Jack McLoughlin to gold with a time of 3:43.36, with U.S. swimmer Kieran Smith taking bronze.

Hafnaoui's gold is only the fifth by a Tunisian athlete at the Olympics, but their third in swimming, and he was left stunned by his performance.

"I just can't believe it. It's a dream and it became true. It was great. it was my best race ever," he said.

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