Tunisia’s Olympic 400-metre freestyle champion Ahmed Hafnaoui is unlikely to defend his title at this year’s Games in Paris due to an injury. The 21-year-old’s participation at the Paris Olympics was cast in doubt after Mehrez Bousyan, head of the Tunisian Olympic Committee, told a locally televised sports programme that Hafnaoui will miss “a significant portion” of the Games, according to Africa Aquatics. “I’m currently suffering from an injury, and I don’t know whether or not I will participate in the Olympics,” the 21-year-old Tunisian swimmer told AFP news agency on Wednesday. Hafnaoui went on to win the 800-metre and 1,500-metre freestyle titles at last year’s World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. If he swims in Paris this year, he has a chance to match Tunisia’s top Olympic swimmer Oussama Mellouli, who won two golds and a bronze in the 2008 and 2012 Games.
