Tunisia's Ahmed Hafnaoui pulls off upset to win gold medal in 400-metre freestyle
Reuters | Posted: July 25, 2021 3:28 AM | Last Updated: July 25, 2021
'I just can't believe it... it was my best race ever,' says 18-year-old swimmer
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.