1,500 metres, Men

There was no clear favorite in this race, although the three Kenyan entrants – Silas Kiplagat, Nixon Chepseba, and Asbel Kiprop – had the three fastest times of the year and talked of a Kenyan sweep, with Kiprop a slight favorite for gold. Algerian Taoufik Makhloufi won the first semi in the slow time of 3:42.24, while Moroccan Abdalaati Iguider took the over semi in a quick 3:33.99. Makhloufi had little international rep prior to 2012 but had improved dramatically in the Olympic year, boosting his PR from 3:34.4 to 3:30.80 coming into London.

The day after the 1,500 semi, Makhloufi ran in the 800 metre heats and jogged about 150 metres before dropping out, presumably to save himself for the 1,500. But he fell afoul of the best effort rules and was disqualified, and that would cause him to be disqualified from the 1,500 as well. The Algerian officials quickly found an out, as they produced a doctor’s note about him being hampered by a “knee injury”. The IAAF accepted this note, and Makhloufi was allowed to run in the 1,500 final.

And in the 1,500 final, Makhloufi made a remarkable recover from his “knee injury”, winning the gold medal in 3:34.08 over American Leo Manzano, who took the silver. Kiprop was a non-factor, suffering from a hamstring strain, and the Kenyans flopped, with Kiplagat placing seventh, Chepseba 11th, and Kiprop 12th and last in the final. Kiplagat and Chepseba actually led with 300 metres left, but Makhloufi blew by them on back straight of the final lap, covering the 200 from 1200-1400 metres in 25.4. That won him the gold medal, as he held on in the final straight, never really being challenged. Behind him, Manzano flew by the others, covering his last 100 in 13.1. Asked about his recovery from his knee problem, Makhloufi noted, “It was the will of God.”

That was how the event and the results seemed to have ended. In 2015, however, the IOC began re-testing samples from the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, using newer, more advanced testing techniques, in an effort to find those who had used performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), but in whom it could not be detected at the time of those Olympics. This was one of the many events affected.

The leading results were not changed but between July 2014 and October 2015 two runners who competed in the heats were disqualified for biological passport offenses. These were Saudi Arabian Mohammed Shaween and Qatarian Hamza Driouch.