Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui (; born 4 December 2002) is a Tunisian swimmer. He is the African record holder in the long course 400-metre and 1500-metre freestyle, and the short course 800-metre and 1500-metre freestyle events. He competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics, where he won a gold medal in the men's 400-metre freestyle. He ranked No. 16 in the world and was the slowest qualifier for the final race but won Olympic gold with a time of 3:43.36. Hafnaoui was the only Tunisian to win Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020.
He finished 8th in the final of the 400 m freestyle at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.
Hafnaoui competed as a 16-year-old at the 2018 World Championships (SC) in the 400 meters, and the 1500 meters, but failed to make the final in either events. In 2021, Fina had him ranked as No. 3 in the men's 400 meter freestyle. At the age of 20, Hafnaoui competed at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, and took gold in the 800 m freestyle, as well as also winning gold for the 1500 m freestyle with the second-fastest 1500 free time in history of 14:31.54.
Hafnaoui is currently serving a 21-month competition ban due to expire in January 2026 for an anti-doping rule violation after missing three tests in a 12-month period.
Background Hafnaoui's father, Mohamed Hafnaoui, was a Tunisian national team basketball player.
Hafnaoui began swimming at the age of six. He gravitated towards swimming rather than his father's sport of basketball in spite of the fact that there were just three 50-metre pools in all of Tunisia. When he was 12 years of age, Hafnaoui began training with the national swim program.
Career 2018
At the African Championships in Algiers, Algeria, Hafnaoui competed in the 800 meter and 1,500 meter freestyle events, as well as the 4x100 and 4x200 freestyle events. He placed third in the 800 meter freestyle (8:08.74), 1,500 meter freestyle (15:45.46), and 4x100 meter men's freestyle (3:27.92), as well as second in the 4x200 freestyle (7:31.55).
At the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Hafnaoui competed in the 200 meter, 400 meter, and 800 meter freestyle events; he placed eighth in the 400 meter freestyle with a time of 3:55.94 and seventh in the 800 meter freestyle with a time of 8:04.43.
At the World Championships Short Course in Hangzhou, China, Hafnaoui competed in the 400 meter and 1500 meter freestyle events; he placed 19th in the 400 meter freestyle with a time of 3:45.98 and 17th in the 1500 meter freestyle with a time of 15:02.25.
2019 Hafnaoui competed in the 400 meter, 800 meter, and 1,500 meter freestyle events at the World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary; he placed fourth in the 800 meter freestyle with a time of 7:49.08 and sixth in the 1,500 meter freestyle with a time of 15:16.04.
2021
Hafnaoui competed in the 400 meter freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, where he placed first with a time of 3:43.36. He is only the third swimmer in history to win an Olympic gold medal out of the 8th lane, the slowest qualifying lane. He also placed joint 10th in the 800 meter freestyle, missing qualification for the final.
In October, Hafnauoi announced he would be competing at Etihad Arena in December as part of the 2021 World Short Course Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates."Tunisia's Olympic gold medal hero Ahmed Hafnaoui to race at FINA World Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi". Arab News. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021. He entered to compete in the 400 metre freestyle and 1500 metre freestyle events.FINA (14 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m): Entries Book". Omega Timing. Retrieved 15 December 2021. Starting his competition on day one of the championships, 16 December, Hafnaoui swum a 3:40.30 in the prelims heats of the 400 metre freestyle to rank tenth overall.FINA (16 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 400m Freestyle Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 16 December 2021. On Day five, Hafnaoui ranked second in the 1500 metre freestyle prelims heats, qualifying for the final with a time of 14:25.77.FINA (20 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 1500m Freestyle Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 20 December 2021. He won the silver medal in the final of the 1500 metre freestyle on day six in an African record time of 14:10.94.FINA (21 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 1500m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 21 December 2021. His time at the 800 metre mark also set a new African record in the 800 metre freestyle at 7:33.69.Hamann, Michael (21 December 2021). "Tunisia's Ahmed Hafnaoui Breaks Mellouli's African 800, 1500 Records". SwimSwam. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
2023
On 11 January 2023, Hafnaoui won the gold medal in the 800-metre freestyle at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Knoxville, with a time of 7:53.10, which was over three full seconds faster than second-place finisher American Robert Finke.Bregman, Scott (11 January 2023). "Tunisian star Ahmed Hafnaoui returns to competition with an impressive win over Bobby Finke at TYR Swim Series in Knoxville – Results". Olympics.com. Retrieved 15 January 2023. Two days later, he won the gold medal in the 400-metre freestyle with a time of 3:47.41. On the fourth day, he finished in a personal best time of 15:07.07 in the final of the 1500-metre freestyle, dropping 8.97 seconds from his previous personal best time, to win the silver medal.Hy-Tek (11 January 2023). "Meet Results: 2023 TYR Pro Swim Series – Knoxville". swmeets.com. Retrieved 11 January 2023. On 1 March, he lowered his personal best time by 6.83 seconds to a 15:00.24 and won the gold medal in the 1500-metre freestyle at the second stop of the Pro Swim Series, in Fort Lauderdale, United States.USA Swimming (1 March 2023). "2023 TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale: Men's 1500m Freestyle Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 1 March 2023. The following day he won the 400-metre freestyle in a time of 3:46.02.USA Swimming (2 March 2023). "2023 TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale: Men's 400m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 2 March 2023. On day four of four, he finished in 7:48.50 in the 800-metre freestyle and won the gold medal.USA Swimming (4 March 2023). "2023 TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale: Men's 800m Freestyle Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
At the 2023 World Aquatics Championships held in Fukuoka, Japan, Hafnaoui won gold in the 800-metre and 1500-metre freestyle events, and silver in the 400-metre freestyle. Hafnaoui will attend Indiana University in fall 2023 as a member of their men's swimming team.
2024-2025 In April 2025, Ahmed Hafnaoui was suspended for 21 months due to three missed doping tests within a 12-month period. The ban is backdated to start from 11 April 2024 and ends on 10 January 2026. As a result, he was ineligible for the 2024 Paris Olympics and all results from April 2024 onwards were disqualified.
Personal bests + Long Course Meters Event Time Meet Location Date Note(s)Ref 50m freestyle 25.89 2020 Summer Olympics Tokyo, Japan 25 July 2021 100m freestyle 53.82 2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka, Japan 23 July 2023 200m freestyle 01:49.50 2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka, Japan 23 July 2023 400m freestyle 03:40.70 2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka, Japan 23 July 2023 AF 800m freestyle 07:37.00 2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka, Japan 26 July 2023 1500m freestyle 14:31.54 2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka, Japan 30 July 2023 AF, CR
Continental records Short course metres (25 m pool) No. Event Time Meet Location Date Status Notes Ref 1 800 m freestyle 7:33.69 † 2021 World Short Course Championships Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 21 December 2021 Current AF, NR 2 1500 m freestyle 14:10.94 2021 World Short Course Championships Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 21 December 2021 Current AF, NR
Awards and honours FINA, Top 10 Moments: 2020 Summer Olympics (#1 for surprising Olympic champion title in 400 metre freestyle)"Tokyo Olympics: Top 10 moments". FINA. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021. Olympics.com, Top 5 Moments: Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics (#4 for gold medal in the 400 metre freestyle)"What we learned: Swimming wrap-up from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics". Olympics.com. 8 August 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021. Grand officier of the National Order of Merit of Tunisia (Tunisia, 2021) Swimming World, African Swimmer of the Year (male): 2021Serowik, Lauren (1 December 2021). "Swimming World December 2021 Presents – 2021 World Swimmers of the Year: Caeleb Dressel and Emma McKeon – Available Now!". Swimming World. Retrieved 1 December 2021. SwimSwam, Top 100 (Men's): 2022 (#16)Sutherland, James (20 January 2022). "SwimSwam's Top 100 For 2022: Men's #20–11". SwimSwam. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
Decoration
First Class of the National Order of Merit (Tunisia, 20 August 2021)
See also List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men) List of World Swimming Championships (25 m) medalists (men) List of African records in swimming
References
External links