Mellouli misses 16th gold by a whisker

Oussama Mellouli missed a fitting finale by only three-tenths of a second. The swimming events of the 12th Arab Games came to a close yesterday evening at the Hamad Aquatic Centre, with the Tunisian megastar hauling in 15 gold and one silver medal and enjoying a standing ovation from a besotted crowd. The one-man show ended with the Olympic and world champion bagging two more gold medals in individual events, but finished second in the thrilling 4x100m medley relay, where Egypt outraced Tunisia with a difference of only 0.3sec. They snatched the gold in 3min 46.37sec, while Mellouli and company clocked 3:46.67 and Kuwait finished third with 3:51.94. Earlier in day six of the swimming competition, Mellouli completed his glorious journey by winning the 200m breaststroke and the 1500m freestyle after he dropped out from the 50m backstroke to save energy. Mellouli won his 14th gold in the 200m breaststroke in a time of 2:16.53. His fellow Tunisian, Taki M’Rabet, led the race for the first 50m, but Mellouli did not allow him to be a real threat. M’Rabet finished second in 2:18.06 and Egypt’s Mohamed Gadallh took the bronze in 2:19.67. The 15th gold for the 27-year-old swimmer, who was named Athlete of the 2011 Arab Games on Wednesday, came in his favourite event, the 1500m freestyle. He took 15:33.05 to seal a race in which only Egypt’s Mohamed Farhoud tried to follow, taking the silver in 15:55.16. Tunisia’s Ahmed Mathlouthi got the bronze with 16:21.68. With Mellouli out of the 50m backstroke, Abdullah Althuwaini from Kuwait snatched his first gold in the Arab Games, in a time of 26.40, while his younger brother, Shuaib Althuwaini, finished fifth with 27.62. Egypt’s Mohamed Hussein grabbed the silver in 26.63 and Amine Kouame from Morocco repeated his bronze of the 2007 Games, clocking 27.04. “This is Kuwait’s first medal in swimming at the 2011 Arab Games. It is an amazing feeling. I wished Mellouli would be in this event to give tougher competition,” said the man nicknamed “the Asian Torpedo”. Egyptian sensation Farida Osman set a perfect seven when she topped the women’s 50m butterfly in 26.58. The 16-year-old rising star showed her class once again, with Fella Bennaceur from Algeria finishing second with 28.49 and Jordan’s Talita Baqlah third in 28.71. Sara El Bekri from Morocco was sixth in 29.36, failing to add an 11th medal to her tally.  “I have won seven gold medals in this competition, which is a great achievement for me and for my country. I have won these medals in different strokes such as butterfly, freestyle and medley,” said Osman.