MELLOULI Oussama

General
RETIREMENT PLAN
He plans to retire from swimming after competing at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "I have had to postpone my retirement by one year [due to the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo] and it has been extra tough on me to do that. But I am sure the IOC [International Olympic Committee] and organising committee in Japan will take the necessary steps to make these Olympics a great comeback for humanity to get back together. It will be my goodbye, my farewell." (fina.org, 18 Jun 2021; bbc.com, 26 Jul 2020)

DOUBLE CHALLENGE
He believes he changed perceptions about pool swimmers transitioning to open water swimming when he won medals in both sports at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. "There's a lot more than you can imagine that goes into that transition and I'm very honoured and very proud to say that I'm the first swimmer to ever do it [win medals in both sports at one edition of the Olympic Games]. There was this stigma that pool swimmers cannot make it in open water and I saw that as a cool challenge. I saw that and was like, 'Okay, not a lot of people think this can be done'. So I thought it was awesome to challenge that perception. I think it opened the door for other swimmers to see it as a challenge." (thenationalnews.com, 19 Feb 2021)

SANCTION
In November 2006 he tested positive for the banned stimulant Adderall at a competition in the United States of America. The disciplinary commission of the Tunisian Swimming Federation [FTN] concluded that he had not taken the drug to enhance his swimming performance and sanctioned him with a reprimand and warning. In March 2007 the International Swimming Federation [FINA] appealed the FTN's decision and requested a two-year ban. The Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] concluded that the case was one of negligence and he received an 18-month suspension, retroactively beginning on 30 November 2006, and was stripped of his competition results from the date of the incident. The stimulant was developed for treating attention disorders and he claimed that he had used it to help him focus on meeting a tight deadline for his final university assignment. "I think the swimming community knows me. I was just a naive kid that made a genuine mistake. I took a stimulant which is very prevalent on US campuses. The punishment was a little bit unfair but I realised that I could lose the one thing that I care about so much in my life from a silly mistake, so I had to be much more careful." (bbc.com, 26 Jul 2020; tas-cas.org, 30 Nov 2010; grg51.typepad.com, 16 Aug 2008)

FURTHER EDUCATION
He has studied for a master's degree in higher education administration at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA, United States of America, as well as a master's in business administration and finance at Essex Business School in Colchester, England. (LinkedIn profile, 01 Jan 2021)

At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro he became the first athlete to represent Tunisia in any sport at five editions of the Olympic Games. He was also the first athlete representing Tunisia in any sport to win two Olympic gold medals, following his victories in 10km open water swimming at the 2012 Games and the 1500m freestyle at the 2008 Games. (SportsDeskOnline, 10 Mar 2020)

At the 2012 Olympic Games in London his gold medal in the 10km open water swimming event made him the first athlete from any nation to have won Olympic gold in both swimming and open water swimming, following his 1500m freestyle gold at the 2008 Games. (SportsDeskOnline, 10 Mar 2020)

At the 2012 Olympic Games in London he also won bronze in the 1500m freestyle, making him the first swimmer from any nation to win medals of any colour in both open water and pool swimming at the same edition of the Games. (SportsDeskOnline, 10 Mar 2020)

He became the first swimmer representing Tunisia to win a gold medal in swimming at the world championships when he claimed victory in the 1500m freestyle at the 2009 edition in Rome, Italy. (SportsDeskOnline, 10 Mar 2020)

He was also the first swimmer representing Tunisia to win a world championship medal in open water swimming, when he took gold in the 5km event at the 2013 edition in Barcelona, Spain. (SportsDeskOnline, 10 Mar 2020)