Tunisia’s Hafnaoui wins men’s 1,500m freestyle world title

Fukuoka: Tunisia’s Ahmed Hafnaoui won the men’s 1,500m freestyle title at swimming’s world championships on Sunday. Hafnaoui came home in 14min, 31.54sec to finish ahead of American Bobby Finke on 14:31.59 and Australia’s Sam Short on 14:37.28. Hafnaoui’s time was less than a second off the world record of 14:31.02 set by China’s Sun Yang in 2012. “Bobby is so fast in the end of the race, he just pushed us,” said Hafnaoui. “It was so close to the world record. I enjoyed the race and thanks Bobby for pushing me.” Short led for most of the race but faded toward the end to leave Hafnaoui and Finke going head-to-head. “I think I deserve it,” said Hafnaoui.

Short won the 400m freestyle title earlier in the week, pipping Hafnaoui to the line. Hafnaoui, the Olympic 400m freestyle champion, got his revenge in the 800m freestyle final, edging Short after an epic battle. Finke is the reigning Olympic 1,500m champion. Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri, who won the race at last year’s world championships in Budapest, chose not to defend his title.