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
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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.



North-South Korea Olympic Podium Selfie Goes Viral 

Paris 2024 Olympics - Table Tennis - Mixed Doubles Victory Ceremony - South Paris Arena 4, Paris, France - July 30, 2024. Bronze medalist Jong-hoon Lim of South Korea takes selfie with Yu-bin Shin of South Korea and gold medalists Chuqin Wang of China and Yingsha Sun of China with silver medalists Jong Sik Ri of North Korea and Kum Yong Kim of North Korea on the podium with their medals after winning. (Reuters) 
Paris 2024 Olympics - Table Tennis - Mixed Doubles Victory Ceremony - South Paris Arena 4, Paris, France - July 30, 2024. Bronze medalist Jong-hoon Lim of South Korea takes selfie with Yu-bin Shin of South Korea and gold medalists Chuqin Wang of China and Yingsha Sun of China with silver medalists Jong Sik Ri of North Korea and Kum Yong Kim of North Korea on the podium with their medals after winning. (Reuters) 
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North-South Korea Olympic Podium Selfie Goes Viral 

Paris 2024 Olympics - Table Tennis - Mixed Doubles Victory Ceremony - South Paris Arena 4, Paris, France - July 30, 2024. Bronze medalist Jong-hoon Lim of South Korea takes selfie with Yu-bin Shin of South Korea and gold medalists Chuqin Wang of China and Yingsha Sun of China with silver medalists Jong Sik Ri of North Korea and Kum Yong Kim of North Korea on the podium with their medals after winning. (Reuters) 
Paris 2024 Olympics - Table Tennis - Mixed Doubles Victory Ceremony - South Paris Arena 4, Paris, France - July 30, 2024. Bronze medalist Jong-hoon Lim of South Korea takes selfie with Yu-bin Shin of South Korea and gold medalists Chuqin Wang of China and Yingsha Sun of China with silver medalists Jong Sik Ri of North Korea and Kum Yong Kim of North Korea on the podium with their medals after winning. (Reuters) 

Images of Olympic table tennis players from North Korea and South Korea taking a selfie together on the medal podium in Paris went viral in South Korea Wednesday, hailed as a rare show of cross-border unity.

Nuclear-armed North Korea declared the South its principal enemy earlier this year and tensions between the two countries are at one of their highest points in years.

But after South Korea won bronze and North Korea silver in the mixed doubles behind China, South Korea's Lim Jong-hoon took a group photo after the medal ceremony.

North Korea's Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong, the South's Shin Yu-bin and the victorious Chinese team Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha all beamed into Lim's phone, a South Korean-made Samsung.

"A selfie with both Koreas' national flags and a Samsung phone," said the widely read daily JongAng Ilbo.

It was the first time North Korea had been on an Olympic podium since 2016, as they did not send athletes to the Tokyo Olympics because of the Covid pandemic.

"I congratulated them when they were introduced as Silver medalists," Lim told Korean media after the award ceremony.

South Korean broadcasters have repeatedly run videos of the selfie, with many commentators reflecting on the significance of a rare moment of unity.

"This is the true spirit of the Olympics," one commentator said.