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After Ahmed Hafnoui’s Olympic Gold, FINA to Fund International Center in Tunisia
Ahmed Hafnoui’s stirring gold medal win at the Tokyo Olympics is already impacting swimming back in his home country of Tunisia in very concrete ways.
FINA president Hussain Al-Musallam announced this week an agreement to construct an international center for high performance in Tunisia that caters exclusively to athletes from North Africa. The project, Al-Musallam said is a direct tribute to the achievement of Hafnoui, the 18-year-old who used an outside lane to upstage the field and win gold in the final of the men’s 400 freestyle.
The Tunisian National Olympic Committee (CNOT), which met with Al-Musallam Thursday, announced the decision. In a release through Tunis Afrique Presse, the CNOT considered the new facility “an asset that adds to the Tunisian swimming school which will boost its visibility on the international scene and reinforce sports diplomacy through investment in success.”
Al-Musallam took office earlier this year. He has pledged to increase funding and global access to the sport and facilities. Starting in the Muslim world is a logical first step for the Kuwaiti sports administrator.
Hafnaoui, a native of the small town of Metlaoui, has become an icon for yielding the first men’s swimming gold medal in the pool since 2012. He’s being hailed as a hero back home, even as the country is riven with internal strife amid a political crisis.
