Ok I have to admit something; while I am enjoying the Olympics I am not enjoying how NBC and all its affiliates are covering the games. All the commentary is coming off a best a little racist and at worst the epitome of “Ugly American”. I am also a little tired of America’s “Great White Hope” Michael Phelps. Or rather I should say I am tired of the constant coverage, biographies and cut scenes that we got to every time America does not get the gold. I have nothing against Michael himself and wish my new neighbor nothing but the best.
Anyway while I was watching the Olympics today I saw the 1500m freestyle race and was excited and amazed to see “Ous Mellouli” the Tunisian swimmer wins the gold. Well America didn’t place so we didn’t get to see the medal ceremony.
Ous was born in Tunis; Mellouli left Tunisia at the age of 15 to study at the College of Rampart in Marseilles, France. After his graduation, he continued his studies at the University of Southern California and swam for the USC Trojans. He is a scholarship holder with the Olympic Solidarity program
On February 19, 2007 he broke his own African Record in the 200 meter individual medley for the fourth time since 2003 at the USA Swimming Grand Prix meet, held at the Mizzou Aquatic Center at the University of Missouri–Columbia. He also set a new African record in the 400 meter individual medley.
On March 25, 2007, he won the silver in the 400 meter freestyle at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne. On March 28, 2007, he became the first World Champion in the sport of swimming for Tunisia by winning the 800 meter freestyle in African Record time, one of the top 10 fastest times ever. However, he was soon discovered to have tested positive for the banned substance amphetamine, allegedly taken to help concentrate for intensive college study sessions and not for any competitive advantage in swimming. Due to a 18-month retroactive competition ban imposed on him 11 September 2007 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and retroactive to 30 November 2006 – for doping, all of these 2007 achievements have been voided.
On September 11, 2007, Mellouli lost his case before the Court of Arbitration for sport. He was suspended for 18 months, retroactive to November 30, 2006. As a result of this sanction, all his results from the 2007 World Championships were nullified. However, was eligible to swim again in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, winning a gold medal in the 1500 m freestyle swim, the first gold medal for Tunisia since 1968.
And a little info on the place of his birth!
Tunisia (Arabic: تونس Tūnis), officially the Tunisian Republic (الجمهورية التونسية), is located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. It is the northernmost African country and the smallest of the nations situated along the Atlas mountain range.
The one thing the Olympics has encouraged me to do is brush up on my world geography as I check out champions from other lands.
I also want to thank the wonderful people at
Wikipedia whom have made helped make information gathering that much easier.
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