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July 20 (Reuters) – Tunisian two-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Osama Mellouli has announced his international retirement, saying he has decided to “boycott” Tokyo despite qualifying for its sixth Games.
The 37-year-old won gold in the 1,500m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the London Open Water Marathon four years later, when he also won a bronze in the 1,500m in the swimming pool. He qualified for Tokyo at an event in Portugal in June.
“After a month of suffering, I lose all hope of reconciliation or success. So I decided to withdraw from international competitions and boycott the Tokyo Games,” he posted on Instagram.
Mellouli did not give details, but media referred to a long-standing legal dispute with the Tunisian Swimming Federation.
Competing in Tokyo would have made Mellouli, who in Beijing defeated Australian Grant Hackett to become Tunisia’s first gold medalist in nearly half a century, only the fourth swimmer to compete in six Games.
He was already the first swimmer to win gold in both pool and open water.
The Tunisian had planned to retire in 2020 but delayed that decision when the Tokyo Olympics were postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mellouli was suspended for 18 months in 2007 after testing positive for the banned substance Adderall.
Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Ed Osmond
Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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