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Since crashing Grant Hackett’s party in Beijing, Oussama Mellouli’s world has become a weird and wonderful one.
The Olympic 1500m freestyle champion has been feted by the Tunisian president and become the first sports person to be handed the nation’s top honour.
He has received a cash bonus of more than $100,000 from his government and has a stack of lucrative sponsorship deals on the table.
But it gets better.
His parents have been promoted in their jobs as well, his dad elevated from being a cop to the ministry of defence and his mother from being a teacher to headmaster at her school.
He admits the adulation of being only Tunisia’s second Olympic gold medallist ever has been overwhelming.
The Californian-based swimmer said that some of his compatriots had driven for hours just to meet him at his home in Tunis following the Olympics.
“I get like mobbed everywhere I go and people are like surprised ‘like what is he doing here?’ or ‘hey, you are the guy’. So it is nice,” he said.
“People came over to my house with their kids and to like touch me or take a picture.
“The first couple of weeks we heard the doorbell ring quite a number of times.”
Mellouli will compete in five events at the World Cup meet in Sydney this weekend after collecting five titles at his last stop in Durban.