My name is Oussama Oueslati. I'm an athlete
with the Tunisian national team for Taekwondo.
I started Taekwondo when I was five years old.
Now Taekwondo is...
I don't know, you can say like air.
I can't live without it.
Every day, day and night
I sleep and wake up on it.
It's an addiction, I can't leave it.
In the Middle East and North Africa,
the next generation of athletes rise.
An elite force, exceeding expectation...
..to reach gold.
These are their stories...
..through their eyes.
(GENERATION RISE MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA)
A champion since he was a boy, Oussama has qualified
to fight at the Olympic Games Rio 2016.
He's now focused on winning gold
in the Taekwondo heavyweight category.
Standing well above six feet tall,
Oussama possesses the ideal body shape
of a Taekwondo champion.
But he's facing real struggles outside of sport,
that threaten his reach for gold.
Well, there isn't too many difficulties,
just one - like the one I'm facing
about my education, and that's it.
After school Oussama trains with his coach
and the national Taekwondo squad.
But he's distracted. All he can think about is leaving school.
15 minutes in, and Oussama's still not focused.
And he's now threatening
to leave both school and Taekwondo.
We'll talk more about this.
We'll do some talking and we'll figure it out.
Since he was a kid he has been a champion.
For sure, outside of Taekwondo...
(MOHAMMED ALI: TAEKWONDO COACH)
..sometimes there is youth's recklessness.
For Oussama to succeed at the Games,
he needs all the help he can get.
Take it easy and watch yourself.
I advise him to always keep his feet on the ground,
always work hard, always look straight ahead.
Whenever Oussama leaves Tunisia
to compete in an international tournament,
his father drives him to the airport.
He uses this time to motivate his son.
I can count on you?
For real?
You're a boss now.
Oussama is competing 4,000 kilometres
away from Tunisia
in Doha, at the Qatar Open
Taekwondo Championship.
In preparation for World Cup 2022,
the State of Qatar
has rapidly developed to become a global hub
for international sporting events.
And the Qatar Open has attracted
elite Taekwondo competitors
from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
Again, higher.
Good, bravo.
This championship is preparation
for the Olympic Games.
Because Oussama is one of the highest ranked fighters
at the Open,
his coach has entered him in a heavier weight class
where he's likely to face tougher competitors.
In this championship, I put him in the under 87kg category.
His Olympic weight is under 80kg.
He wants to put Oussama through a real test
before the Olympics.
Oussama's first opponent from Pakistan is half his size.
I played my match until the referee ended it,
because we weren't on the same level.
Oussama's easy win moves him into the semifinal,
and despite his German opponent being the same size,
Oussama again wins by a high margin.
The German under 87kg
is one of the top eight in the world.
But I knew how to play with him and I beat him 8-0.
After dominating two matches
Oussama's confidence is sky-high,
but the competition is not over yet.
The final match will be a good match
because the French's level is very good.
He's already qualified to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games,
and he's third in the Olympic ranking.
And God willing, only good things will happen.
It's OK, it's OK...
From his first strike,
it's clear the French competitor wants to take
the fight to a level Oussama wasn't expecting.
Undeterred, Oussama fights on and scores one more point.
He gives his all,
but it's not enough and he's defeated.
It should've been 4-4.
But it's fine, thanks to God.
God willing, he will always be humble
and looking forward,
so he will win more and more medals.
And now let's start
distributing the medals for all our winners.
We advanced in the Olympics ranking.
Oussama is only 20 years old.
This is the first Olympic Games for him.
I mean, God willing, we will bring back a medal from Rio.
We faced a lot of difficult circumstances,
we did almost everything.
We're just missing an Olympic medal.
(OUSSAMA OUESLATI CONTESTED THE 80KG TAEKWONDO EVENT
(AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES RIO 2016
(FIGHTING AGAINST 16 OF THE WORLD'S BEST,
(OUSSAMA WON A BRONZE MEDAL)