LONDON, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Algeria's Taoufik Makhloufi produced a stunning last 300 meters to be proclaimed Olympic 1,500 meter champion on Tuesday night.
Makhoufi finished ahead of Leonel Manzano of the USA and Morocco's Abdaali Iguider and deserved his prize for an audacious final lap which saw him sprint away from the rest of the field to quickly open up an unclosable leaad
He was a slightly controversial runner given that Monday had seen him excluded from the competition for allegedly not making an effort in the 800 meters heats. However, on appeal he was reinstated after a doctor confirmed he had a legitimate medical reason for retiring from the race.
The race was billed as a showdown between reigning Olympic and world champion, Kiprop and Commonwealth champion, Kiplagat, the runner up in Daegu, while Kiplimo Chepseba completed a fearsome trio of Kenyan runners.
2008 silver medalist Nick Willis was also looking to go one better than Beijing, but none of them were able to make an impression with Willis finishing ninth, Kiplagat seventh and Kiprop last.
The first lap was quick with Chepseba leading the race out before Mansoor Ali took on the pace as the runners began to gather on the second. With only 400 meters remaining, it was still anyone's race before Makhloufi sprinted away with 300 meters to go. Whatever the problem he had suffered on Monday, he made a remarkable recovery.