Famous people from Tunisia

Oussama Mellouli

Week 2 and we ended up in Tunisia. In this county lives my favourite swimmer! The legendary Oussama Mellouli who is a big concurrent of Michael Phelps. I would like to tell you more about this famous Tunisian. So that you know him, when you see him on tv or hear about him on the radio,… .

Oussama Mellouli, also called ‘Ous’, is a Tunisian swimmer who competes in the freestyle and medley events. He is a three-time Olympic medallist and an African record holder. He trains with the USC Trojans team who are based at the University of Southern California. There, he went to school and discovered his talent for swimming.

Oussama became the World champion for 1500m freestyle at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships with a time of 14:37.28. This was the second best performance of the world at that moment. Mellouli won also the gold medal at the Olympics of 2008 for the 1500 freestyle.

Unfortunately, he tested positive in a drug test in 2006. So his performances in the World Championships in 2007 didn’t count.

But later he was back on track and earned the bronze medal in the 1500 freestyle at the Olympics of 2012. He won also the gold medal in the 10 km marathon swim at the same games.

His last popular medal that he won was in 2013 at the World Championships for the 5 km marathon. After this one, I haven’t heard much of him. I hope he didn’t stop swimming, because he is a talent for the country.

Because he no longer lives in Tunisia, it was not possible to meet him and ask a signature. But when I see him, I will post it on this blog.

After all, it was a beautiful trip in Tunisia! See you in Italy :)

Sources:

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oussama_Mellouli

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/oussama-mellouli.html