Tunisia’s Ahmed Hafnaoui wins men’s 800m freestyle swimming world title.
Tunisia’s Ahmed Hafnaoui won the men’s 800m freestyle title at swimming’s world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, on Wednesday.
Hafnaoui crossed the finish line first in seven minutes and 37.00 seconds, clear of Australia’s Sam Short (7:37.76) and the United States’ Bobby Finke (7:38.02).
Hafnaoui, Short, and Lukas Martens of Germany ran neck-and-neck for the majority of the race, until Hafnaoui surged ahead in the final stretch.
Hafnaoui had previously won silver behind Short in the 400m freestyle on the opening night of the competition. Therefore, he gained sweet retribution for his earlier error.
Hafnaoui stated, “Remembering my previous race, the 400, I will attempt to run faster in the 800 and win the gold.”
Hafnaoui is the current Olympic champion in the 400-meter freestyle. Olympic and world 800m champion Finke overtook Martens in the closing stages of the race.
At the swimming championships, Mollie O’Callaghan broke the world record in the women’s 200-meter freestyle with a time of one minute and 52.85 seconds, winning the gold medal.
O’Callaghan broke the performance-enhancing bodysuit era record of 1:52.98 set by Federica Pellegrini of Italy at the 2009 world championships in Rome, and was 0.16 seconds clear of silver medalist Ariarne Titmus of Australia.
Summer McIntosh of Canada came in third place.
O’Callaghan stated, “I’m just really shaken right now because I did have an injury coming into this, and I was just hoping to have fun.”
“I anticipated being extremely pleased. The achievement of a world record is truly astounding.”
Adam Peaty, Britain’s three-time Olympic champion, is skipping the competition for mental health concerns, having missed the previous edition due to a foot fracture.
After Matthew Richards led a one-two finish in the men’s 200-meter freestyle on Tuesday, his absence is a blow to Britain’s prospects of increasing their gold medal haul.
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