Tunisian Ous Mellouli brought home the very first Olympic swimming gold on Sunday, August 17, crashing all hopes of Australia’s Grant Hackett of securing the third consecutive title in the 1,500-meter freestyle. It was a challenging race in which Ous Mellouli had to strive hard to keep off the Australian during the closing meters, touching in 14 minutes, 40.84 seconds. Grant Hackett’s time of 14:41.53, which was well over his seven-year-old world record, earned him silver. Canada’s Ryan Cochrane took the bronze in 14:42.69.