Mercyful swimmer leads Saudi Arabia to gold at the Youth Olympics in Dakar
Tunisian-born swimmer Rami Rahmuni takes first place in the 400-meter freestyle event, recording the first Saudi gold in the history of the tournament.
Swimmer Rami Rahmuni was crowned on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, with the gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle swimming event at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, under the flag of Saudi Arabia after leaving the Tunisian national team and gaining Saudi citizenship.
Rahmoni finished the race in first place with a time of 3 minutes and 47.86 seconds, giving Saudi Arabia the first gold medal in its history in swimming competitions within the Youth Olympic Games after a strong competition on the final track.
The young swimmer's career had seen him represent Tunisia in previous international tournaments, during which he scored 3 gold medals at the African Junior Swimming Championships during 2023, before the Tunisian Swimming University decided to officially announce his exit from its national teams.
The Tunisian University of Swimming announced in February 2026 that Rahmoni had officially acquired Saudi citizenship to represent the Kingdom at various regional and international forums, a move that was accompanied by extensive discussions in Tunisian sports circles about the transfer conditions of athletes.
The then president of the Tunisian University of Silent Swimming, Mansour, suspended the move as a real shock to the sporting system and warned in her statement of the growing risk of losing Chebba's athletic talent to foreign electors in the future.