Tunisia at the Olympics
Tunisia first competed at the Olympic Games in 1960, and have sent athletes to every Games since except when they joined the US led 1980 boycott.
Tunisia is perhaps one of the most impressive African nations at the Olympiad based on its previous medal haul.
Long-distance runner Mohammed Gammoudi earned the distinction of becoming the first Tunisian to win a medal at the Olympics by finishing third in the men’s 10,000-meter run in athletics in the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games. Gammoudi is also regarded as Tunisia’s first gold medal winner when he won the gold medal in the men's 5,000-meter run at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympics and with his four-medal harvest tucked on his belt there is no doubt that he is the greatest Tunisian Olympian ever. Oussama Mellouli ranks second with three Olympic medals (2 gold and 1 bronze) in swimming.
Habiba Ghribi earned the distinction as the first female gold medal winner from Tunisia when she captured the grueling women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase event in athletics at the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games.
Aside from athletics and swimming the nation had managed to win medals in boxing, fencing, taekwondo and wrestling.
Tunisia has never participated in the Winter Olympic Games.
Trivia
- Tunisia competed for the first three days of the 1976 Games before withdrawing in support of the boycott by most other African nations.
- In 1960, the struggling Tunisian modern pentathlon team decided to secretly send out their best swordsman each time hidden behind the mask. However, the third time the same fencer came out the ruse was discovered.
- The winner of the 2012 men's open water 10km was won by Tunisia's Oussama Mellouli, who became the first-ever swimmer to capture Olympic titles in both pool and open water.
- The youngest females to compete in sailing at the Olympics are the twins Eya Guezguez and Sarra Guezguez from Tunisia, who were 16 years 137 days when they competed in 2021.
Related Pages
- List of all countries that have participated at the Olympic Games.
- About sport in Tunisia
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