2012 Marathon Swimming Olympic and multi-World champion ranked 10th on Sunday June 20 in Setubal (POR) at the FINA Marathon Swim Olympic Qualifier, clocking a time of 2h02m55s60, allowing him to access what will be his 6th participation in the Olympics.  Full results available here.

Mellouli first competed at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney (AUS) and also raced in Athens (GRE) 2004 before taking the 1500m free gold at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (CHN). He followed that up with bronze in the same event in London 2012, four years later when he also became the Olympic champion in the 10km Marathon event. However, in Rio 2016, Mellouli finished 12th in the men’s 10k event.

Mellouli was planning to retire last year but postponed his plans after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the planet in early 2020, enabling him to have a chance to take part in the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games, the last of his terrific career.