Tunisia’s Jaouadi wins 800m freestyle gold for first major title

SINGAPORE (AFP): Tunisia’s Ahmed Jaouadi won his first major title with victory in the 800m freestyle at swimming’s world championships on Wednesday with a perfectly timed attack.

Jaouadi made his move midway through the race in Singapore and eased away to touch the wall in 7min 36.88sec, ahead of German pair Sven Schwarz (7:39.96) and 400m champion Lukas Maertens (7:40.19).

Jaouadi, who finished fourth at last year’s Paris Olympics, clocked the third-fastest time ever.

“I didn’t really think about strategy, I was just trying to control the race and see what happens,” said the 20-year-old.

“At some point I saw that the rhythm wasn’t that fast so I decided to just go and make the move.”

Ireland’s Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen finished last in 7:58.56.

Bobby Finke, the Olympic 1,500m champion, was fourth in 7:46.42.

Jaouadi dedicated his win to fellow Tunisian Ahmed Hafnaoui, a former Olympic and world champion who received a 21-month suspension in April for three anti-doping violations.

“This one is for Hafnaoui — he’s having some hard times now,” said Jaouadi.

Australia’s Sam Short, who qualified second-fastest for the final, was forced to withdraw hours before the race with stomach trouble.

Short, the silver medallist in the 400m freestyle, is the latest swimmer to be hit by illness this week in Singapore.

The United States team said the “overwhelming majority” of their swimmers had suffered from acute gastroenteritis, while Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi complained of feeling unwell before his 100m breaststroke final.