Oussama Mellouli
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| Medal record | ||
 Oussama Mellouli |
||
| World Championships - Long Course | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 2003 Edmonton | 400 m individual medley |
| Bronze | 2005 Montreal[1] | 400 m freestyle |
| Bronze | 2005 Montreal | 400 m individual medley |
| World Championships - Short Course | ||
| Bronze | 2004 Indianapolis[2] | 200 m individual medley |
| Gold | 2004 Indianapolis | 400 m individual medley |
Oussama Mellouli (born February 16, 1984) is a Tunisian swimmer who competes in the freestyle and medley events, an Olympian from 2004 Athens games. He was elected Tunisian sportsman of the year in 2003 and 2004.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Born in Tunis, Mellouli left Tunisia at the age of 15 to study at the College of Rampart in Marseilles, France. After his graduation, he continued his studies at the University of Southern California and swam for the USC Trojans. He is a scholarship holder with the Olympic Solidarity program.
He first established himself on the world scene at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona by winning the bronze medal in the 400 meter individual medley. He further distinguished himself at the 2004 FINA Short Course World Championships, held at the Indiana University Natatorium at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. At these championships, he won the first international level gold medal in swimming for Tunisia in the 400 meter individual medley. He also won the silver medal in the 200 meter individual medley.
He broke the African Record in the 400 meter individual medley with a 5th place finish at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and again, with a bronze at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal.
[edit] 2007
On February 19, 2007 he broke his own African Record in the 200 meter individual medley for the fourth time since 2003 at the USA Swimming Grand Prix meet, held at the Mizzou Aquatic Center at the University of Missouri–Columbia. He also set a new African record in the 400 meter individual medley.
On March 25, 2007, he won the silver in the 400 meter freestyle at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne. On March 28, 2007, he became the first World Champion in the sport of swimming for Tunisia by winning the 800 meter freestyle in African Record time, one of the top 10 fastest times ever. However, he was soon discovered to have tested positive for the banned substance amphetamine, allegedly taken to help concentrate for intensive college study sessions and not for any competitive advantage in swimming. Due to a 18-month retroactive competition ban imposed on him 11 September 2007 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and retroactive to 30 November 2006 – for doping, all of these 2007 achievements have been voided.
[edit] Positive drug test
A few weeks after the conclusion of the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne, reports began to surface that Mellouli had tested positive for a banned substance at the US Open in November, 2006. These reports surfaced because FINA, the international governing body of the sport, had discovered that Tunisian authorities had known about the positive test, and had only given him a warning. The rules state, that when an athlete tests positive for a banned substance, he or she must be given a 2-year ban from the sport. Accordingly, FINA took the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, demanding stiffer sanction.
Mellouli has since admitted that he took the ADD medication Adderall, a stimulant and a form of amphetamine. (Already in June 2006, a national sports commentator wrote: Various studies show rampant use of Adderall, Ritalin and other drugs normally used for attention deficit disorder instead applied toward all-night cramming sessions. [3] ) Mellouli did not have a prescription for the drug, having received it from another USC student shortly before the US Open. He argued that he took the pill in order to help himself with writing a term paper (to sustain or enhance his academic performance), and that the drug is not a performance-enhancing substance in competitive swimming. However, Adderall is on the official banned substances list.[4]
On September 11, 2007, Mellouli lost his case before the Court of Arbitration for sport. He was suspended for 18 months, retroactive to November 30, 2006. As a result of this sanction, all of his results from the 2007 World Championships have been vacated, and he will no longer be considered the first Arab world champion swimmer. However, he will be eligible to swim again by the time of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
[edit] Achievements
- 2005 World Aquatics Championships - bronze medal (400 m individual medley)
- 2005 World Aquatics Championships - bronze medal (400 m freestyle)
- 2004 Olympic Games - fifth place (400 m individual medley)
- 2004 FINA Short Course World Championships - bronze medal (200 m individual medley)
- 2004 FINA Short Course World Championships - gold medal (400 m individual medley)
- 2003 World Aquatics Championships - bronze medal (400 m individual medley)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Montreal 2005 Results. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
- ^ 7th FINA World Championships - 25m Indianapolis 2004. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
- ^ "Consider ending drug policies in sports: Maybe best solution is just to let pro athletes take whatever they want", Commentary by Bob Cook, MSNBC.com, 10 June 2006. Retrieved on 2007-09-13.
- ^ List of Drugs Prohibited by the WADA for years 2005 and 2006 (PDF) – relevant quote: The following stimulants are prohibited, including both their optical (D- and L-) isomers where relevant: ...amphetamine... and other substances with similar chemical structure or similar biological effect(s). (p. 7) This passage verbatim matches the content of article section Adderall#Chemistry.
[edit] External links
