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Ahmed Hafnaoui

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Ahmed Hafnaoui
Personal information
Full nameAhmed Ayoub Hafnaoui
National teamTunisia
Born (2002-12-04) 4 December 2002 (age 21)
Métlaoui, Tunisia
Height1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight84 kg (185 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
College teamIndiana University
CoachJobrane Touili (2018–2021) Mark Schubert (Since 2023)
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing  Tunisia
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 0 0
World Championships (LC) 2 1 0
World Championships (SC) 0 1 0
African Championships 0 1 3
Total 3 3 3
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 400 m freestyle
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 2023 Fukuoka 800 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2023 Fukuoka 1500 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2023 Fukuoka 400 m freestyle
World Championships (SC)
Silver medal – second place 2021 Abu Dhabi 1500 m freestyle
African Championships
Silver medal – second place 2018 Algiers 4×200 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Algiers 800 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Algiers 1500 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Algiers 4×100 m freestyle

Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui (Arabic: أحمد أيوب حفناوي[romanization needed]; born 4 December 2002) is a Tunisian swimmer. He is the African record holder in the long course 400-metre and 1500-metre freestyle, and the short course 800-metre and 1500-metre freestyle events.[2][3] He competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics, where he won a gold medal in the men's 400-metre freestyle.[4] He ranked No. 16 in the world and was the slowest qualifier for the final race but won Olympic gold with a time of 3:43.36.[5] Hafnaoui was the only Tunisian to win Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020.[6][7]

He finished 8th in the final of the 400 m freestyle at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.[8]

Hafnaoui competed as a 16-year-old at the 2018 World Championships (SC) in the 400 meters, and the 1500 meters, but failed to make the final in either events. In 2021, Fina had him ranked as No. 3 in the men's 400 meter freestyle.[9] At the age of 20, Hafnaoui competed at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, and took gold in the 800 m freestyle, as well as also winning gold for the 1500 m freestyle with the second-fastest 1500 free time in history of 14:31.54.[10]

Background

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Hafnaoui's father, Mohamed Hafnaoui, was a Tunisian national team basketball player.

Hafnaoui began swimming at the age of six. He gravitated towards swimming rather than his father's sport of basketball in spite of the fact that there were just three 50-metre pools in all of Tunisia.[11] When he was 12 years of age, Hafnaoui began training with the national swim program.[12]

Career

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2018

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2018 African Championships
Silver medal – second place 4x200 m freestyle 7:31.55
Bronze medal – third place 800 m freestyle 8:08.74
Bronze medal – third place 1500 m freestyle 15:45.46
Bronze medal – third place 4x100 m freestyle 3:27.92

At the African Championships in Algiers, Algeria, Hafnaoui competed in the 800 meter and 1,500 meter freestyle events, as well as the 4x100 and 4x200 freestyle events.[4] He placed third in the 800 meter freestyle (8:08.74), 1,500 meter freestyle (15:45.46), and 4x100 meter men's freestyle (3:27.92), as well as second in the 4x200 freestyle (7:31.55).[4]

At the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Hafnaoui competed in the 200 meter, 400 meter, and 800 meter freestyle events; he placed eighth in the 400 meter freestyle with a time of 3:55.94 and seventh in the 800 meter freestyle with a time of 8:04.43.[4]

At the World Championships Short Course in Hangzhou, China, Hafnaoui competed in the 400 meter and 1500 meter freestyle events; he placed 19th in the 400 meter freestyle with a time of 3:45.98 and 17th in the 1500 meter freestyle with a time of 15:02.25.[4]

2019

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Hafnaoui competed in the 400 meter, 800 meter, and 1,500 meter freestyle events at the World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary; he placed fourth in the 800 meter freestyle with a time of 7:49.08 and sixth in the 1,500 meter freestyle with a time of 15:16.04.[4]

2021

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2020 Summer Olympics
Gold medal – first place 400 m freestyle 3:43.36

Hafnaoui competed in the 400 meter freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, where he placed first with a time of 3:43.36.[4][13] He is only the third swimmer in history to win an Olympic gold medal out of the 8th lane, the slowest qualifying lane. He also placed joint 10th in the 800 meter freestyle, missing qualification for the final.

In October, Hafnauoi announced he would be competing at Etihad Arena in December as part of the 2021 World Short Course Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[14] He entered to compete in the 400 metre freestyle and 1500 metre freestyle events.[1] Starting his competition on day one of the championships, 16 December, Hafnaoui swum a 3:40.30 in the prelims heats of the 400 metre freestyle to rank tenth overall.[15] On Day five, Hafnaoui ranked second in the 1500 metre freestyle prelims heats, qualifying for the final with a time of 14:25.77.[16] He won the silver medal in the final of the 1500 metre freestyle on day six in an African record time of 14:10.94.[2] His time at the 800 metre mark also set a new African record in the 800 metre freestyle at 7:33.69.[3]

2023

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2023 World Aquatics Championships
Gold medal – first place 800 m freestyle 7:37.00
Gold medal – first place 1500 m freestyle 14:31.54
Silver medal – second place 400 m freestyle 3:40.70

On 11 January 2023, Hafnaoui won the gold medal in the 800-metre freestyle at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Knoxville, with a time of 7:53.10, which was over three full seconds faster than second-place finisher American Robert Finke.[17] Two days later, he won the gold medal in the 400-metre freestyle with a time of 3:47.41. On the fourth day, he finished in a personal best time of 15:07.07 in the final of the 1500-metre freestyle, dropping 8.97 seconds from his previous personal best time, to win the silver medal.[18] On 1 March, he lowered his personal best time by 6.83 seconds to a 15:00.24 and won the gold medal in the 1500-metre freestyle at the second stop of the Pro Swim Series, in Fort Lauderdale, United States.[19] The following day he won the 400-metre freestyle in a time of 3:46.02.[20] On day four of four, he finished in 7:48.50 in the 800-metre freestyle and won the gold medal.[21]

At the 2023 World Aquatics Championships held in Fukuoka, Japan, Hafnaoui won gold in the 800-metre and 1500-metre freestyle events, and silver in the 400-metre freestyle. Hafnaoui will attend Indiana University in fall 2023 as a member of their men's swimming team.[22]

Personal bests

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Long Course Meters
Event Time Meet Location Date Note(s) Ref
50m freestyle 25.89 2020 Summer Olympics Tokyo, Japan 25 July 2021 [23]
100m freestyle 53.82 2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka, Japan 23 July 2023 [23]
200m freestyle 01:49.50 2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka, Japan 23 July 2023 [23]
400m freestyle 03:40.70 2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka, Japan 23 July 2023 AF [23]
800m freestyle 07:37.00 2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka, Japan 26 July 2023 [23]
1500m freestyle 14:31.54 2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka, Japan 30 July 2023 AF, CR [23]

Continental records

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Short course metres (25 m pool)

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No. Event Time Meet Location Date Status Notes Ref
1 800 m freestyle 7:33.69 † 2021 World Short Course Championships Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 21 December 2021 Current AF, NR [2][3]
2 1500 m freestyle 14:10.94 2021 World Short Course Championships Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 21 December 2021 Current AF, NR [2][3]
Legend: AF – African record; NR – Tunisian record;
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; † – en route to final mark; tt – time trial

Awards and honours

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Decoration

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b FINA (14 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m): Entries Book". Omega Timing. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d FINA (21 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 1500m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Hamann, Michael (21 December 2021). "Tunisia's Ahmed Hafnaoui Breaks Mellouli's African 800, 1500 Records". SwimSwam. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Swimming HAFNAOUI Ahmed". Tokyo 2020. 25 July 2021. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Slowest to qualify, Tunisian Hafnaoui wins Olympic swimming gold". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  6. ^ Kennedy, Merrit (25 July 2021). "A Young Tunisian Shocks The Swimming Field To Win Olympic Gold". NPR. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Tunisia wins Africa's 1st gold Olympic medal". The African Mirror. 25 July 2021. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  8. ^ Stubbs, Roman (25 July 2021). "Tunisian swimmer Ahmed Hafnaoui's gold medal surprised him, too". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  9. ^ "fina.org | Official FINA Website". FINA – Fédération Internationale De Natation. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  10. ^ Li, Yanyan (30 July 2023). "Ahmed Hafnaoui And Bobby Finke Become Second And Third-Fastest 1500 Freestylers Ever". SwimSwam. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  11. ^ Woods, David (3 November 2022). "He can hoop, but Olympic champ must wait to join IU swim tradition". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  12. ^ "Five things to know about Olympic champ Ahmed Hafnaoui". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  13. ^ "Shock as Ahmed Hafnaoui of Tunisia powers to gold in 400m freestyle". The Guardian. 25 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Tunisia's Olympic gold medal hero Ahmed Hafnaoui to race at FINA World Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi". Arab News. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  15. ^ FINA (16 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 400m Freestyle Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  16. ^ FINA (20 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 1500m Freestyle Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  17. ^ Bregman, Scott (11 January 2023). "Tunisian star Ahmed Hafnaoui returns to competition with an impressive win over Bobby Finke at TYR Swim Series in Knoxville – Results". Olympics.com. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  18. ^ Hy-Tek (11 January 2023). "Meet Results: 2023 TYR Pro Swim Series – Knoxville". swmeets.com. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  19. ^ USA Swimming (1 March 2023). "2023 TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale: Men's 1500m Freestyle Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  20. ^ USA Swimming (2 March 2023). "2023 TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale: Men's 400m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  21. ^ USA Swimming (4 March 2023). "2023 TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale: Men's 800m Freestyle Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  22. ^ "Hafnaoui Captures World Title in 800-Meter Freestyle". Indiana University Hoosiers. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  23. ^ a b c d e f "Ahmed HAFNAOUI | Results | World Aquatics Official". World Aquatics. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  24. ^ "Tokyo Olympics: Top 10 moments". FINA. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  25. ^ "What we learned: Swimming wrap-up from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics". Olympics.com. 8 August 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  26. ^ "Kaïs Saïed décore les deux médaillés olympiques, Hafnaoui et Jendoubi". 20 August 2021.
  27. ^ Serowik, Lauren (1 December 2021). "Swimming World December 2021 Presents – 2021 World Swimmers of the Year: Caeleb Dressel and Emma McKeon – Available Now!". Swimming World. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  28. ^ Sutherland, James (20 January 2022). "SwimSwam's Top 100 For 2022: Men's #20–11". SwimSwam. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  29. ^ "Kaïs Saïed décore les deux médaillés olympiques, Hafnaoui et Jendoubi". Espace Manager (in French). Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  30. ^ "Tunisie : Ayoub Hafnaoui et Khalil Jendoubi décorés par Kais Saied". Webdo TN (in French). Retrieved 27 July 2024.
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