Tunisia at the 2012 Summer Olympics |
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IOC code | TUN | ||||||||
NOC | Tunisian Olympic Committee | ||||||||
Website |
www |
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in London | |||||||||
Competitors | 83 in 17 sports | ||||||||
Flag bearer |
Heykel Megannem (opening) Oussama Mellouli (closing) |
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Medals Ranked 35th |
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Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |||||||||
Qualified for the quarterfinals |
Tunisia competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's thirteenth appearance at the Olympics, having missed the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of its partial support for the United States boycott.
The Tunisian Olympic Committee (French: Comité National Olympique Tunisien, CNOT) sent the nation's largest delegation to the Games, surpassing by almost two thirds the number of athletes sent to Beijing. A total of 83 athletes, 63 men and 20 women, competed in 17 sports. Men's basketball, men's handball, and men's indoor volleyball were the only team-based sports in which Tunisia was represented at these Olympic games. There was only a single competitor in artistic gymnastics, sailing, shooting, and taekwondo.
Notable Tunisian athletes featured freestyle swimmer and defending champion Oussama Mellouli, who competed at his fourth Olympics, tennis player and former Youth Olympic games participant Ons Jabeur, and fencing sisters Azza and Sarra Besbes. Heykel Megannem, captain of Tunisia's handball team, made his Olympic comeback in London after a twelve-year absence to compete in his sport, and later became the nation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
Tunisia left London with a full set of medals, which were all awarded to the team in athletics and swimming. This was the nation's most successful Olympics, winning the largest number of medals in its history, sending its largest delegation ever to the games due to the presence of team-based athletes, and setting its Olympic history for two legendary athletes. Middle-distance runner Habiba Ghribi became the first Tunisian female athlete to win an Olympic medal in the women's steeplechase. Meanwhile, Oussama Mellouli became the first Olympic swimming champion at both pool and open water, and became most successful Tunisian athlete in Olympic history with two gold medals.