体坛英语新闻：Tunisian women athletes eye historic medal at London Olympic Games

TUNIS, July 23 (Xinhua) -- 19 Tunisian women from a team of 45 athletes will try to make history by wining a medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games taking place on July 27.

The Tunisian sportswomen will compete in a variety of games including Judo, wrestling, taekwondo, tennis, track and field, shooting, kayaking, weightlifting, fencing, rowing, boxing and swimming.

Led by the world's second best performer of this year in the 3, 000-meter steeplechase race, Habiba Ghribi, the Tunisian women competitors will aim at catching up with their male counterparts by winning their first Olympic medal for Tunisia.

"Habiba Ghribi is the hope of Tunisian track and field," said Khemaies Ben Gamra, the technical director of the Tunisian athletics federation. "She has real chances to reach the podium, given her strong determination and sufficient preparation."

Other hopefuls include Ons Jaber, a 17 year-old tennis competitor and winner of the 2011 Roland Garros Junior Open, who said will try her best in the tennis competition.

Also, Tunisian women boxers have a strong chance of climbing up on the podium thanks to the "grinta" of Rym Jouini (60kg) and Marwa Rahali (51kg). Their performance at the latest African competitions speaks volumes of their ability and ambition.

In the Tunisian Olympic history, only two men, Mohamed Gammoudi and Oussama Mellouli, have won gold medals respectively in track and field and swimming. Gammoudi won a gold medal in the 5000- meter race at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games while Mellouli in the 1500-meter race at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.