Tunisia at the Olympics

Tunisia at the
Olympics
IOC codeTUN
NOCTunisian Olympic Committee
Websitewww.cnot.org.tn (in French)
Medals
Ranked 70th
Gold
6
Silver
4
Bronze
8
Total
18
Summer appearances

Tunisia first participated at the Olympic Games in 1960, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games except when they participated in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics.

Tunisian athletes have won a total of 18 medals, including four by the great long-distance runner Mohammed Gammoudi in men's athletics, four in men's swimming three by long-distance swimmer Oussama Mellouli and one by Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui, two in men's boxing, one in women's athletics, one in women's fencing, three in men's taekwondo and most recently one in men's fencing in the 2024 Paris Olympics by Fares Ferjani.

The National Olympic Committee for Tunisia was created in 1957.

History

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Rome 1960 to Moscow 1980

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Team Tunisia at the 1968 Summer Olympics open ceremony in Mexico City.
Mohammed Gammoudi (top right) when he won Tunisia's first Olympic gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

Tunisia first took part in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. The 45 men competed in athletics, Boxing, Fencing, Cycling, Modern pentathlon, Shooting and Football. The first Olympians came from the boxing relay. On 25 August 1960, the bantamweight Tahar Ben Hassan, the lightweight Noureddine Dziri, the light welterweight Azouz Bechir and the welterweight Omrane Sadok came to their first-round bouts.

The first medals were won in 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Tunisia's first medalist was Mohammed Gammoudi on 14 October 1964, who won silver in the 10,000 meter.[1] Boxer Habib Galhia won the light welterweight bronze a week later.[2] A Tunisian judoka took part in Tokyo for the first time. At 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City Gammoudi was able to triple his medal haul. In addition to winning a bronze medal in the 10,000 meters,[3] he became Tunisia's first Olympic champion in the 5,000 meters on 15 October 1968.[4] At 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, handball players, volleyball players and a wrestler competed for the first time. Mohammed Gammoudi won his fourth Olympic medal with silver in the 5000 meters.[5] So far (2020) he is the Tunisian with the most medals at the Olympic Games.

Tunisia was one of the few African countries to take part in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. The athletes were not used, but swimmers took part for the first time. In addition, a Tunisian woman started in Montreal for the first time. Myriam Mizouni became the country's first Olympian on 18 July 1976 in the 100-meter freestyle heats.[6] The country immediately joined the US-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

Los Angeles 1984 to Athens 2004

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At 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Tunisian weightlifters took part for the first time. In Boxing, Lotfi Belkhir reached the quarterfinals at light welterweight. In Seoul 1988, Tunisian table tennis players made their Olympic debut. The football selection met in the preliminary round the team from West Germany, which later won bronze, and lost 1–4. At 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, in which a sports sailor competed for the first time, were unsuccessful for the Tunisian team.

It was not until 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta that a medal could be celebrated again. Boxer Fethi Missaoui won bronze at light welterweight.[7] In athletics, Ali Hakimi reached the 1500m final and finished eighth. In Atlanta, a Tunisian tennis player took part for the first time. Tunisian rowers made their Olympic debut in Sydney in 2000. The team was also unsuccessful in 2000 Sydney.

At 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Tunisian Taekwondoin and a gymnast competed for the first time. Swimmer Oussama Mellouli reached the final in the 400m individual medley and finished 5th. In women's weightlifting, Hayet Sassi finished 4th in the middleweight division. The taekwondoin Hichem Hamdouni was able to reach the quarterfinals in the welterweight division. Saber fencer Azza Besbes also reached the quarterfinals.

Beijing 2008 to present

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Oussama Mellouli double olympic champion in swimming.
Habiba Ghribi 3,000 meter steeplechase olympic champion.

After 40 years, a Tunisian Olympic victory was celebrated again at 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Oussama Mellouli won the 1500m freestyle final after finishing fifth in the 400m freestyle.[8][9][10] Boxer Walid Cherif reached the flyweight quarterfinals. In London 2012, basketball players and canoeists competed for the first time. Oussama Mellouli won bronze in the 1500 meter freestyle and became Olympic champion in the 10 km open water swim.[11][12] This makes Mellouli Tunisia's first double Olympic champion.[13][14] He is also the first swimmer to win both indoor (1500m freestyle in Beijing 2008) and outdoor (10 km open water 2012 in London) olympic gold medals.

Track and field athlete Habiba Ghribi took second place in the 3,000 meter steeplechase race. The winner, the Russian Yuliya Zaripova, was found guilty of doping in 2015 and disqualified. Ghribi moved up accordingly and was subsequently declared Olympic champion on 4 June 2016.[15] Boxer Maroua Rahali reached the quarterfinals in the flyweight division. The Tunisian fencer also achieved top placements. Inès Boubakri was sixth in the foil, epee fencer Sarra Besbes eighth, her sister Azza Bebes ninth with the sabre.

At 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the Tunisian team won three bronze medals. Inès Boubakri won her medal in foil fencing,[16] Marwa Amri in freestyle wrestling in the 58 kg class and Oussama Oueslati in welterweight taekwondo.[17] Beach volleyball players from Tunisia competed in Rio de Janeiro for the first time. At 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the team won two medals, the gold for the swimmer Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui,[18][19] who win at the men's 400-metre freestyle and the silver for the taekwondo practitioner Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi at the men's 58 kg.[20][21]

At 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Tunisia has three medals at the Games, with Farès Ferjani winning silver in the individual men's sabre event[22] and Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi capturing the bronze in the men's 58 kg event, the latter becoming the first Tunisian to score back-to-back medals in taekwondo during the Olympics. Firas Katoussi would follow suit with the country's first gold medal in the Taekwondo men's 80 kg event.

Medal tables

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Medals by Summer Games

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Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank
1960 Rome 42 0 0 0 0 -
1964 Tokyo 9 0 1 1 2 29
1968 Mexico City 7 1 0 1 2 28
1972 Munich 35 0 1 0 1 33
1976 Montreal 15 0 0 0 0 -
1980 Moscow did not participate
1984 Los Angeles 23 0 0 0 0 -
1988 Seoul 41 0 0 0 0 -
1992 Barcelona 13 0 0 0 0 -
1996 Atlanta 51 0 0 1 1 71
2000 Sydney 47 0 0 0 0 -
2004 Athens 54 0 0 0 0 -
2008 Beijing 28 1 0 0 1 52
2012 London 83 2 0 1 3 35
2016 Rio de Janeiro 61 0 0 3 3 75
2020 Tokyo 63 1 1 0 2 58
2024 Paris 26 1 1 1 3 52
2028 Los Angeles future event
2032 Brisbane
Total 6 4 8 18 70

Medals by sport

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SportGoldSilverBronzeTotal
 Swimming3014
 Athletics2215
 Taekwondo1124
 Fencing0112
 Boxing0022
 Wrestling0011
Totals (6 entries)64818

List of medalists

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Medal Name Games Sport Event
 Silver Mohammed Gammoudi Japan 1964 Tokyo Athletics Men's 10,000 m
 Bronze Habib Galhia Japan 1964 Tokyo Boxing Men's light welterweight
 Gold Mohammed Gammoudi Mexico 1968 Mexico City Athletics Men's 5000 m
 Bronze Mohammed Gammoudi Mexico 1968 Mexico City Athletics Men's 10,000 m
 Silver Mohammed Gammoudi West Germany 1972 Munich Athletics Men's 5000 m
 Bronze Fethi Missaoui United States 1996 Atlanta Boxing Men's light welterweight
 Gold Oussama Mellouli China 2008 Beijing Swimming Men's 1500 m freestyle
 Gold Oussama Mellouli United Kingdom 2012 London Swimming Men's 10km marathon
 Gold Habiba Ghribi United Kingdom 2012 London Athletics Women's 3000 m steeplechase
 Bronze Oussama Mellouli United Kingdom 2012 London Swimming Men's 1500 m freestyle
 Bronze Inès Boubakri Brazil 2016 Rio de Janeiro Fencing Women's Foil
 Bronze Oussama Oueslati Brazil 2016 Rio de Janeiro Taekwondo Men's 80 kg
 Bronze Marwa Amri Brazil 2016 Rio de Janeiro Wrestling Women's freestyle 58 kg
 Gold Ahmed Hafnaoui Japan 2020 Tokyo Swimming Men’s 400 m freestyle
 Silver Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi Japan 2020 Tokyo Taekwondo Men's 58 kg
 Gold Firas Katoussi France 2024 Paris Taekwondo Men’s 80 kg
 Silver Farès Ferjani France 2024 Paris Fencing Men's sabre
 Bronze Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi France 2024 Paris Taekwondo Men's 58 kg

See also

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References

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  1. ^ 1964 Olympic 10,000m on YouTube (2008-04-09). Retrieved on 2011-04-18.
  2. ^ "Décès de Habib Galhia, premier Tunisien médaillé olympique". Tunisienumerique.com. June 26, 2010. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  3. ^ "Athletics at the 1968 Mexico City Games: Men's 10,000 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Athletics at the 1968 Mexico City Games: Men's 5000 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  5. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Athletics at the 1972 Munich Games: Men's 5000 metres". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Swimming at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games: Women's 100 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  7. ^ "Boxing at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games: Men's Light Welterweight". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  8. ^ "Mellouli claims 1500m swim gold". BBC Sport. 17 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  9. ^ Lohn, John (16 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Ous Mellouli Claims Olympic Gold for Tunisia in Men's 1500 Free". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Mellouli shatters Hackett's hat-trick bid". South China Morning Post. 17 August 2008. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  11. ^ Helliker, Kevin (10 August 2012). "U.S.-Trained Tunisian Takes Gold in Open-Water Swim". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  12. ^ Linden, Julian (10 August 2012). "Mellouli wins open water gold medal". Reuters. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  13. ^ "2012 London Olympics: Tunisia's Ous Mellouli Becomes First Pool/Open Water Double Gold Medalist with 10K Victory". Swimming World Magazine. 10 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  14. ^ "Mellouli wins Olympic open water gold medal". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 10 August 2012. Archived from the original on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  15. ^ "Ghribi receives Olympic and world gold medals". Yahoo Sports. Archived from the original on 18 June 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  16. ^ "Ines Boubakri wins bronze". nbcolympics.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  17. ^ "Rio 2016 - Taekwondo : Oussama Oueslati remporte la médaille de bronze". JawharaFM. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ "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.
  20. ^ "Taekwondo - JENDOUBI Mohamed Khalil vs DELL'AQUILA Vito - Gold Medal Contest Results". Archived from the original on 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  21. ^ Pavitt, Michael (22 February 2020). "Olympic medallists earn Tokyo 2020 spots at African taekwondo qualifier in Rabat". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  22. ^ "Oh Sanguk takes men's sabre gold after show of sportsmanship". Olympics. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
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