Just two days before the end of the 33rd Olympic Games, Tunisia’s hopes of winning a gold medal were dwindling, especially since the Tunisian delegation entered the games with a very small number of athletes, not exceeding 26 players, most of whom left the competition.
But Firas Al-Qatousi outperformed his Iranian competitor, Mehran Barkhordari, with a score of 2-0 in the final round, giving Tunisia its first gold medal in the Paris Olympics and its third in the current games, after the silver medal of fencer Fares Al-Farjani and the bronze medal of taekwondo player Khalil Al-Jandoubi.
Al-Qattousi (28 years old) was able to win the first gold medal for the sport of Taekwondo and the sixth in the history of Tunisia’s participation in the Olympic Games, at a time when the former swimmer Oussama Mellouli was the last to ascend the podium in the Games, 12 years ago when he won the gold medal in the 10-kilometre open water swimming during the London 2012 Games.
In addition to his historic achievement for Tunisia, Al-Qattousi, who is participating in the Olympic Games for the first time, became the second Arab taekwondo player to win gold after Jordanian Ahmad Abu Ghosh during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Inside the Roland Garros Hall in the French capital, Paris, Firas Al-Qatousi gave a wonderful performance in all his matches on the path to winning the gold, before achieving victory in the final and sparking historic joy in Tunisian sports circles and among the fans who strongly supported him in the Olympic wrestling hall.
Limited ambitions and great determination
Al-Qatousi revealed after winning the gold medal that he came to compete in the Olympic Games in order to achieve good results, but he did not initially dream of gold, adding in live television statements after his historic achievement: “I am really happy with this coronation. I played all my matches with great focus, confidence and determination. In fact, I did not think that I would win the gold medal, and therefore I consider it the greatest historic achievement in my career.”
“There were some very difficult matches, especially in the semi-final against the American competitor, but thank God I succeeded in the end in winning and ascending the podium. I dedicate this great achievement to everyone who believed in me, helped me and supported me. The plans I adopted with the technical staff were successful and bore fruit,” continued Al-Qattousi, who addressed the Tunisian fans in the Roland Garros hall to greet them after his wonderful achievement.
The Tunisian champion had a heroic career in the 80 kg Taekwondo competition, where he defeated the Australian Leon Seranovic in the round of 16 with a score of 2-0.
In the quarter-finals, Al-Qatousi defeated the Danish Eddie Henrik 2-0, while in the semi-finals, the Tunisian Taekwondo champion, who is participating in his first Olympics, qualified at the expense of the runner-up of the American world champion, Carl Nicholas, 2-0.
Firas Al-Qatousi’s journey with Taekwondo began at the age of four, as his passion for combat sports emerged since his childhood, and his great enthusiasm and physical capabilities increased his loyalty to his favorite game, as he excelled in practicing combat activities, and joined a Taekwondo club for children, at which point his parents and coach noticed that he was indeed a promising champion, and he actually began an extraordinary journey that was crowned with Olympic gold.
Heroic march
The Tunisian Olympic champion’s career witnessed fluctuating stages, as he stopped practicing Taekwondo in 2918, and a year later he returned to the wrestling ring again. Al-Qattousi said: “After I stopped competing, I returned strongly and believed in my luck, and gradually, starting in 2019, I was able to participate in a number of Arab championships and African Games, until I reached the Olympic podium, which was not an easy journey at all.”
Al-Qattousi failed to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which also affected his sporting career, but he said after the Paris gold medal that he worked hard to establish himself on the Olympic level, before saying that he dedicates the gold medal to all the Tunisian people.
Taekwondo players in Tunisia achieved the best Olympic results for the country, as this game was not absent from the podiums in the last 3 Olympic Games, and achieved at least one medal since Rio de Janeiro 2016.
After Osama Al-Waslati’s bronze in 2016, Mohamed Khalil Al-Jandoubi won the silver medal in Tokyo 2020 and repeated his achievement in the current edition, winning the bronze in the 58 kg weight, while the biggest achievement was for Firas Al-Qatousi in the 80 kg weight.
Firas Al-Qattousi gave Tunisia its sixth gold medal in the history of its Olympic participation, and its seventeenth in total medals in the country’s history.
Tunisia’s first gold medal in the Olympic Games dates back to Mexico City in 1968, when athletics legend Mohamed Gammoudi won his country’s first Olympic gold medal in the 5,000-meter race, an event that remained firmly in the Tunisian sports annals for exactly 40 years.
In the 2008 Beijing edition, swimmer Oussama Mellouli gave Tunisia its second gold medal in the 1500-meter race in the 2008 Beijing edition, before becoming the first Tunisian athlete to win gold in two consecutive editions, after winning the gold medal in the 10-meter race in open water swimming competitions.
In the same edition, the champion runner Habiba Ghribi, who won the gold medal in the 3000-meter steeplechase race, shone, becoming the first Tunisian athlete to win Olympic gold.
In the last edition in Tokyo, Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui won the gold medal in swimming in the 400-meter freestyle race after becoming, at the age of 18, the youngest Tunisian and Arab athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in the history of the games.
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