Ahmed Jaouadi became the second Tunisian to lift the World 800m free title in the past three years with a swim so solid as to make even the Magdeburg Might of Germany left gasping for breath: 7:36.88, the third fastest in history.

There's been no breaking World or championship records in the 800m at World titles since 2009, when shiny suits saw China's Zhang Lin clock an impossible 7:32.12 global mark for gold, and Tunisia's Oussama Mellouli the silver in what remains an African record of 7:35.27 for silver.

All of which masks the magnitude of the fastest textile time in history: Jaouadi's 7:36.88. The swiftest 800m ever won at the global showcase in a textile suit had belonged to the subsequently disgraced Sun Yang, of China, in 7:38.57 in 2011, when the new champion's fellow Tunisian Ahmed Hafnaoui, the bolt-from-the-blue Olympic 400m champion n at Tokyo 2020ne, claimed the crown at Fukuoka 2023 in a stunning 7:37.00.

Getting the better of Hafnaoui on the 800m clock and Sun's top 800 speed at the height of his distance career as he headed towards becoming China's first male Olympic swimming champion at London 2012 is some feat. As indeed is any swim that leaves the Magdeburg Might of Germany struggling with the pace and being forced to svelte for the minor spoils, again, at the height of their powers.

Sven Schwarz took the silver in 7:39.96, down on his 7:38.12 European record from May, his training partner and teammate Lukas Märtens, Olympic and Wold 400m champion, landing a 2-3 podium punch for Germany:

The face went without Sam Short, the Australian who claimed silver a slither behind Märtens in the 400m free on day 1. Short's latest bout of bad luck with illness and injury at major events looks likely to be a bout of suspected food poisoning. Team officials are still investigating the possible source of some form of gastro illness.

Previous winners of the 800 crown - Olympic 1500m champion Bobby Finke (USA), who won the world title in 2022, was locked out in fourth, while defending champion and reigning Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen (IRL), who is racing while awaiting an appendectomy, was level with the leaders at half-way but faded fast after that and eased home just inside 8mins.

Jaouadi is 20 and coached by Philippe Lucas, whose career includes guiding Laure Manaudou, of France, and Sharon Van Rouweendaal to Olympic glory, in pool and open water, respectively.

The new 800m World champion has travelled a steep trajectory of progress since clocking 8mins 10.34 as a 17 year old: at 18, for to 7:53.99; at 19, 7:42.07; and now at 20, 7:36.88 as the fastest ever in textile with a World title in the bank.

Asked what the gold meant to him, the champion said:

“Actually it means a lot. It’s the third best time ever… it feels great. Especially with this season. I didn’t go back to training until March. I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for this. Especially after Budapest, I got into some kind of depression, I wasn’t ready to go back to training at some point. It makes me really happy.

“During the last days of training, I was expecting this, and I knew that I will go fast. But at some point, I didn’t have a lot of confidence going through. But my team, my staff, the people around me knew how to control things, take things in control, and helped me through this.” 

Reflecting on the race, he added: “I knew Martens would go fast. He’s the 400m champion, I knew he had more speed than me. I was just trying to control the race and see what happens during the race. I saw that the rhythm wasn’t that fast, so I decided to just go and make the move.

“I just pushed my head down. I saw that as soon as I started to push down on my arms, I started to go faster than the others, I started to pull out. I didn’t hesitate to go faster, I just kept going faster and faster. I knew that if I had that much difference between me and the others, I wouldn’t have to go faster again. I just knew that I would win.” 

Schwarz's silver was more than a lining for him:

"It's absolutely amazing. In the beginning, I was like ‘I want to get a medal.’ But it is not easy, because you have five guys who can go under 7:40. Thankfully, I'm the second guy. I'm pretty happy. It's so amazing to be here.”

The swim had buoyed him for the 1500m on Sunday: "From now on, I won’t be in any pain for a bit. So we will see what (medal) we can get in two days, but it would be very hard as 1500 is a longer distance."

Märtens' take: “Not that fast for the first 400m, so for me it was more easy than for some other people. It was one of my best races. The time was not my best time, but it was a good race. At the end, I earned a medal and it’s step forward.”

On the German surge in distance freestyle success, he said:

“Third place and second place for Germany is very very good. We have such good training groups… we have world-class athletes like Florian Wellbrock (four golds in open water) in my team and he is one of the best German swimmers of all-time. I’m honoured that I can train with him.” 

Troubled Waters

The history of others is no fault of Jaouadi's, but, sadly, he has excelled in an event with more than its fair share of asterisks:

* China's Sun Yang tested positive and was banned for three months in 2014; and he fell foul of anti-doping rules for a second time in 2018, receiving a suspension of four years and three months.

** Tunisia's Ahmed Hafnaoui Hafnaoui is currently serving a 21-month competition ban due to expire in January 2026 for an anti-doping rule violation after missing three tests in a 12-month period.

**** Tunisia's Oussama Mellouli served a suspension after falling foul of anti-doping rules in his youth in 2006: he had taken Adderall, a banned stimulant, while studying for school exams. Tunisian authorities had known about the result, but had only issued him a warning. FINA referred the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Mellouli admitted taking the drug without a prescription, saying it was to help with academic work. In September 2007, CAS imposed an 18-month ban retroactive to 30 November 2006 and also disqualified all his results from that date through 2007, including those at the Melbourne 2007 World Championships.

]In victory , Jaouadi jumped Tunisia above the USA on the all-time medals table in the 800m free, with two golds and a silver to one gold and two of each of the other colours.