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Can a sports hero change society? Tunisia is about to find out. On July 31, the North African nation welcomed home an 18-year-old swimmer, Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui, who stunned the world at the Tokyo Olympics by winning the 400-meter freestyle.

To many Tunisians, his victory – which came the same day that President Kais Saied suspended parliament and took full powers – was a reminder of the ability of the individual to lift a country out of passivity and fatalism.

“Thank you for this ray of hope in the middle of our dark night,” wrote one Tunisian on Twitter. In the Leaders publication, one commentator wrote, “This poor Tunisia, this miserable Tunisia ... fights with dignity through its young people, its brave sports soldiers.”

Eya Jrad, a teacher of security studies at the Mediterranean School of Business, told The Washington Post that the gold-medal win by Ayoub (as he is called) is about youth reclaiming their space. “Right now,” she said, “we don’t have anything ... and people just want to see they actually can make it from nothing.”

His victory in swimming’s premier event was all the more astounding because Mr. Hafnaoui barely made it to the finals. He qualified by only 14-hundredths of a second and was forced to swim in lane eight where the waves of competitors can slow you down. Yet he was able to knock almost three seconds off his personal best time.

How did this underdog do it? “It was hard work,” he said as he dedicated his gold medal to all the Tunisian people.

If the reactions to his resilience ring a bell, it is because Tunisia set a famous example for how an individual can make a difference. In December 2010, a young fruit vendor who had been abused by police stood up for his rights and sacrificed his own life, triggering a democratic revolution in Tunisia that felled a dictator and sparked protests across the Middle East. 

The 2011 Arab Spring was ignited with the single act of an individual. While rulers in much of the region still treat people more as subjects than as citizens, Tunisia’s ongoing struggles can still provide inspiration. Mr. Hafnaoui’s “hard work” in winning a gold was more than a momentary distraction for a country in the grips of COVID-19 and a setback to its democracy. It showed how individual Tunisians can choose a better image of themselves, relying on an inner autonomy that overcomes outward adversity.