Taoufik Makhloufi
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| Born | April 29, 1988 Souk Ahras, Algeria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| Updated on 7 August 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Taoufik Makhloufi (born 29 April 1988) is an Algerian track and field athlete who specialises in middle distance running. He was the 800 metres gold medallist at the 2012 African Championships and the 2011 All-Africa Games.
He has twice represented Algeria at the World Championships in Athletics. His personal bests are 1:43.88 minutes for the 800 m and 3:30.80 minutes for the 1500 metres.[1]
Career
Born in Souk Ahras, Makhloufi made his first international outing at the 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where he finished 82nd in the 8 km junior race.[2] He began competing at the senior level in 2009 and at the 2009 Mediterranean Games he placed fourth in the 1500 metres.[3] An appearance at the Golden Gala meeting followed soon after and he ran a personal best of 3:34.34 minutes. He won his first national title that year and represented his country at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, where he was a semi-finalist.[4] In 2010 he improved his best to 3:32.94 minutes at the Herculis meeting and ranked among the top twenty that year.[5] He reached the 1500 m final at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics, but failed to finish.[6]
Makhloufi's fastest run of 2011 (3:34.4 minutes) came at a national meeting in Algiers and he competed twice on the 2011 Diamond League circuit (in Doha and Stockholm). After taking his second Algerian 1500 m title, he was again selected for the World Championships team and again reached the semi-final stage.[4] It was at the 2011 All-Africa Games that he made his international breakthrough. He won the 1500 m bronze medal behind Kenyan opposition, then defeated the much more favoured Boaz Kiplagat Lalang in the 800 metres final to take his first continental gold medal.[7][8]
Following this success he began to compete more frequently in the 800 m in the 2012 season. His first 1500 m race of the season was a runner-up finish at the Rabat Meeting and he improved his 800 m best to 1:44.88 minutes in Stockholm.[9] Building upon his previous African title, a tactical mistake by the leading Kenyan runners helped Makhloufi win the 800 m title at the 2012 African Championships in Athletics, setting a personal best of 1:43.88 minutes in the process.[10] On July 20, 2012 he set a new personal best at the 1500 m at Herculis meeting in Monaco with a time 3:30:80.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he reached the minima for both the 1500 m and 800 m races. He qualified for the 1500 m final after finishing first in his heat and semi-final. Makhloufi won the gold medal in the 1500 m Olympic final with a time of 3:34.08. He was definitely on drugs.
References
- ^ "iaaf.org". Retrieved August 04, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ 2007 World Cross Country Championships. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2012-07-02.
- ^ 2009 Mediterranean Games Men's 1500 metres. Pescara2009. Retrieved on 2012-07-02.
- ^ a b Makhloufi, Taoufik. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-07-02.
- ^ 1500 Metres 2010. IAAF (2010-12-03). Retrieved on 2012-07-02.
- ^ 2010 African Championships Men's 1500. 2010 Nairobi. Retrieved on 2012-07-02.
- ^ All-Africa Games - Jeux Africains, Maputo (Mozambique) 11-15/9. Africa Athle. Retrieved on 2012-07-02.
- ^ Makori, Elias (2011-09-15). From Daegu to Maputo, Jeylan and Montsho rule! - All Africa Games. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-07-02.
- ^ Taoufik Makhloufi. Diamond League. Retrieved on 2012-07-02.
- ^ Watta, Evelyn (2012-06-30). Montsho and Makwala take 400m titles in Porto-Novo – African champs, Day 3. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-07-02.
External links
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