Swim King Hafnaoui Seeks to be Tunisia's Greatest Olympian

Homecoming: Ahmed Hafnaoui gives a press conference in Tunis - AFP
Homecoming: Ahmed Hafnaoui gives a press conference in Tunis - AFP
TT

Swim King Hafnaoui Seeks to be Tunisia's Greatest Olympian

Homecoming: Ahmed Hafnaoui gives a press conference in Tunis - AFP
Homecoming: Ahmed Hafnaoui gives a press conference in Tunis - AFP

Double world champion swimmer Ahmed Hafnaoui said Wednesday he wants to become Tunisia's greatest ever Olympian at the Paris Games next year.

The 20-year-old, who captured the 800m and 1,500m freestyle golds at the world championships in Japan last week, said he wants to "break the record for the Tunisian having the most medals and break all the world records."

Long-distance runner Mohammed Gammoudi is Tunisia's most successful Olympian with four medals between 1964 and 1972.

Hafnaoui already has one Olympic gold courtesy of his 400m triumph in Tokyo in 2021, according to AFP.

At the world championships last week in Fukuoka, he also claimed silver in the 400m.

"Everyone should believe in themselves and to work, to make sacrifices in order to be able to succeed," Hafnaoui told reporters on his return to Tunisia from Japan.

At the Paris Olympics next year, he said he may also enter the 5km and 10km open water swimming events as well the 200m freestyle in the pool.

"But the 100m will be very difficult", said the US-based swimmer.



Fallen Tree Disrupts High Speed Trains in Eastern France

File: A view shows trees, which burned during last summer's wildfires, cut down and piled - Reuters
File: A view shows trees, which burned during last summer's wildfires, cut down and piled - Reuters
TT

Fallen Tree Disrupts High Speed Trains in Eastern France

File: A view shows trees, which burned during last summer's wildfires, cut down and piled - Reuters
File: A view shows trees, which burned during last summer's wildfires, cut down and piled - Reuters

Traffic on high-speed trains had to be halted on two lines from Paris to eastern France on Wednesday after a train hit a tree fallen on tracks during a thunderstorm, French SNCF railways operator said on X, Reuters reported.

Traffic was due to be disrupted until at least 1200 GMT between Paris and Lyon and Paris and Dijon after being halted around 0530 GMT, SNCF said.

The incident, which was expected to impact some 80,000 travellers, comes after vandals sabotaged signal stations and cables at key points in the high-speed train network on July 26, causing travel chaos hours before the Paris Olympic games.