Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
18-year-old swimmer Ahmed Hafnaoui surprises by winning the gold medal Tokyo 2020 Olympics from the men’s 400 meters freestyle, Sunday (25/7) afternoon WIB.
Hafnaoui is entitled to the gold medal after carving a record time of 3 minutes 43.36 seconds. He outperformed swimmers from Australia, Jack McLoughin who had to settle for a silver medal and Kieran Smith (United States) who only won bronze.
Hafnaoui actually appeared in the men’s 400 meters freestyle with a non-seeded status. He also could only occupy the eighth position in the elimination round with a record time of 3 minutes 48.68 seconds.
However, the non-seeded status seems to have allowed Hafnaoui to appear loose. The Tunisian swimmer was able to appear fast in the first 200 meters to outperform his competitors.
His time record has decreased in the last 200 meters of the race. However, Hafnaoui was no longer overtaken by other swimmers for his first Olympic gold medal.
Hafnaoui also found it difficult to believe the results he achieved at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Moreover, he actually only dared to aim for the gold medal during the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“I can’t believe it, it’s amazing. I feel better in the water this morning than yesterday. I’m now an Olympic champion,” he said as quoted from the official website. Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
“I can’t believe it. It’s a dream come true.”
In addition to Hafnaoui’s surprise, a world record was also set for the women’s 4×100 meter freestyle relay at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. Representative Australia became a record breaker by recording a time of 3 minutes 29.69 seconds, 0.36 seconds better than the previous record.
Australia won the gold medal in this event followed by Canada who secured the silver medal and the US on the last podium for the bronze medal.
(jal)
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