Rome 1960 to Moscow 1980 open ceremony in Mexico City. (top right) when he won Tunisia's first Olympic gold medal at the
1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Tunisia first took part in the
1960 Summer Olympics in
Rome. The 45 men competed in athletics,
Boxing,
Fencing,
Cycling,
Modern pentathlon,
Shooting and
Football. The first Olympians came from the boxing relay. On 25 August 1960, the bantamweight
Tahar Ben Hassan, the lightweight
Noureddine Dziri, the light welterweight
Azouz Bechir and the welterweight
Omrane Sadok came to their first-round bouts. The first medals were won in
1964 Summer Olympics in
Tokyo. Tunisia's first medalist was
Mohammed Gammoudi on 14 October 1964, who won silver in the
10,000 meter. Boxer
Habib Galhia won the light welterweight bronze a week later. A Tunisian judoka took part in Tokyo for the first time. At
1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City Gammoudi was able to triple his medal haul. In addition to winning a bronze medal in the
10,000 meters, he became Tunisia's first Olympic champion in the
5,000 meters on 15 October 1968. At
1972 Summer Olympics in
Munich, handball players, volleyball players and a wrestler competed for the first time. Mohammed Gammoudi won his fourth Olympic medal with silver in the
5000 meters. So far (2020) he is the Tunisian with the most medals at the Olympic Games. Tunisia was one of the few African countries to take part in the
1976 Summer Olympics in
Montreal. The athletes were not used, but swimmers took part for the first time. In addition, a Tunisian woman started in Montreal for the first time.
Myriam Mizouni became the country's first Olympian on 18 July 1976 in the
100-meter freestyle heats. The country immediately joined the
US-led boycott of the
1980 Summer Olympics in
Moscow.
Los Angeles 1984 to Athens 2004 At
1984 Summer Olympics in
Los Angeles, Tunisian weightlifters took part for the first time. In
Boxing,
Lotfi Belkhir reached the quarterfinals at
light welterweight. In
Seoul 1988, Tunisian table tennis players made their Olympic debut. The
football selection met in the preliminary round the team from
West Germany, which later won bronze, and lost 1–4. At
1992 Summer Olympics in
Barcelona, in which a sports sailor competed for the first time, were unsuccessful for the Tunisian team. It was not until
1996 Summer Olympics in
Atlanta that a medal could be celebrated again. Boxer
Fethi Missaoui won bronze at
light welterweight. In athletics,
Ali Hakimi reached the 1500m final and finished eighth. In Atlanta, a Tunisian tennis player took part for the first time. Tunisian rowers made their Olympic debut in Sydney in 2000. The team was also unsuccessful in
2000 Sydney. At
2004 Summer Olympics in
Athens, Tunisian Taekwondoin and a gymnast competed for the first time. Swimmer
Oussama Mellouli reached the final in the
400m individual medley and finished 5th. In women's
weightlifting,
Hayet Sassi finished 4th in the
middleweight division. The taekwondoin
Hichem Hamdouni was able to reach the quarterfinals in the
welterweight division. Saber fencer
Azza Besbes also reached the quarterfinals.
Beijing 2008 to present double olympic champion in swimming. olympic champion.After 40 years, a Tunisian Olympic victory was celebrated again at
2008 Summer Olympics in
Beijing.
Oussama Mellouli won the
1500m freestyle final after finishing fifth in the
400m freestyle. Boxer
Walid Cherif reached the
flyweight quarterfinals. In
London 2012, basketball players and canoeists competed for the first time.
Oussama Mellouli won bronze in the
1500 meter freestyle and became Olympic champion in the
10 km open water swim. This makes Mellouli Tunisia's first double Olympic champion. He is also the first swimmer to win both indoor (
1500m freestyle in
Beijing 2008) and outdoor (10 km open water 2012 in London) olympic gold medals. Track and field athlete
Habiba Ghribi took second place in the
3,000 meter steeplechase race. The winner, the Russian
Yuliya Zaripova, was found guilty of
doping in 2015 and disqualified. Ghribi moved up accordingly and was subsequently declared Olympic champion on 4 June 2016. Boxer
Maroua Rahali reached the quarterfinals in the
flyweight division. The Tunisian fencer also achieved top placements.
Inès Boubakri was sixth in the foil, epee fencer
Sarra Besbes eighth, her sister
Azza Bebes ninth with the sabre. At
2016 Summer Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro, the Tunisian team won three bronze medals.
Inès Boubakri won her medal in
foil fencing,
Marwa Amri in freestyle wrestling in the
58 kg class and
Oussama Oueslati in
welterweight taekwondo. Beach volleyball players from Tunisia competed in Rio de Janeiro for the first time. At
2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the team won two medals, the gold for the swimmer
Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui, who win at the
men's 400-metre freestyle and the silver for the taekwondo practitioner
Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi at the
men's 58 kg. At
2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Tunisia has three medals at the Games, with
Farès Ferjani winning silver in the
individual men's sabre event and
Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi capturing the bronze in the
men's 58 kg event, the latter becoming the first Tunisian to score back-to-back medals in taekwondo during the Olympics.
Firas Katoussi would follow suit with the country's first gold medal in the
Taekwondo men's 80 kg event. == Medal tables ==