LONDON — For a guy who’s supposed to be hurting, Algerian Taouflik Makhloufi looked awfully spry last night, winning the men’s 1,500-meter race by almost three-quarters of a second, capped by a dynamic final 100 meters in which he looked at least 100 percent fit.
Makhloufi was briefly kicked out of the Games Monday when the International Association of Athletics Federations declared he had not run an 800-meter qualifying race with a “bona fide effort.”
In that race, Makhloufi jogged for around 300 meters before walking off the track. He had wanted to skip the race entirely in order to be at full strength for the 1,500, but his federation forgot to scrap his entry. And when he made his half-hearted stroll, the IAAF acted.
But then Makhloufi essentially got a note from his doctor — actually, two doctors — that explained away his half-hearted jog, and he was allowed to compete. And in so doing he may have denied the U.S. men their first gold medal of this track meet, since Leonel Manzano finished second.
“It was the will of God,” Makhloufi said when the race was over. “Yesterday I was out. Today I was in.”
Makhloufi broke from the gate quickly, settled into the middle of the pack, then reached full stride at the start of the bell lap, opening up as much as a 10-meter lead. He finished at 3:34.08.
It was more than three seconds slower than Makhloufi’s best time of the year, which was 3:30.80, but it also came — if you are to believe the doctors — with some pain attached to it.
“The athlete suffered from a painful injury, which however, with appropriate treatment, may allow him to compete in 24 hours,” was the message they delivered to the IAAF Monday night, and that was good enough to lift the ban and bring him back to the track yesterday.
“I’m very happy, my family is happy, this has given new life for my country,” Makhloufi said. “I just concentrated on my race and did not think about it.”
Of his injury, Makhloufi said: “I have a problem with my left leg and it may need surgery.”
Earlier, the women’s 200 semifinals went to form, with two-time defending champion Veronica Campbell-Brown and the woman she beat both times, American Allyson Felix, both making it to today’s final. Also there: 100-meter winner Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, runner-up Carmelia Jeter and 400-meter champion Sanya Richards-Ross, both from the U.S.
In the men’s 200, 100-meter champion Usain Bolt and runner-up Yohan Blake both cruised through the first round.
But China’s track superstar, Liu Xiang, barely made it out of the blocks in the 110 hurdles. Liu crashed into the first barrier and had to hop his way down the track, stopping to kiss a hurdle on the way out.
Also, American runner LaShawn Merritt will not compete in the 4×400-meter relay after being sent home to get treatment on an injured left hamstring. — With AP