Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi ©Getty Images

Tunisia's medal success since first participating at the Olympics in 1960 has featured two celebrated figures in long-distance runner Mohammed Gammoudi, who won a gold, two silvers and a bronze between 1964 and 1972, and Oussama Mellouli, who claimed three swimming medals, two of them gold.

But one stop down the list brings us to Tunisia's third most profitable sport in Olympic medal terms - taekwondo. The martial art has contributed medals at both the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games.

Oussama Oueslati was the breakthrough taewondo athlete for Tunisia in Brazil, earning bronze in the men's under-80 kilograms welterweight event.

In the Japanese capital, Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi moved one step higher on the podium as he earned silver in the men's under-58kg flyweight category.

Jendoubi's Tokyo 2020 success had been prefigured in 2018 when he won bronze at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, losing 14-10 in his semi-final against the Russian Olympic Committee's (ROC) Dmitrii Shishko.

Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi won Olympic silver at Tokyo 2020 ©Getty Images
Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi won Olympic silver at Tokyo 2020 ©Getty Images

The following year, his first at senior level, saw Jendoubi earn the African Games title in Rabat with a 47-10 win in his men's under-54kg final against Moaz Azat of Egypt.

After returning to Rabat in 2020 to secure Olympic qualification, Jendoubi warmed up for his Tokyo 2020 test by winning the African senior title in Dakar, beating Omar Lakehal of Morocco 18-15 in the final.

At the Tokyo 2020 Games victories over Mikhail Artamonov of the ROC and Jun Jang of South Korea earned the then 19-year-old a place in the final.

There he was narrowly beaten 16-12 by Italy's Vito Dell’Aquila.

Jendoubi maintained his high level of consistency in June 2021, when he reached the final of the World Taekwondo Grand Prix at the Foro Italico in Rome, the first event of its kind to have been held since 2019 because of the pandemic.