On Tuesday, Taoufik Makhloufi won the gold medal in the men’s 1,500m race with a time of 3 minutes 34.08 seconds.
He needed to show Olympic officials just how hard he could work after being expelled from the Games on Monday for not putting in adequate effort.
Makhloufi’s amazing turnaround is one of the highlights of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
According to Reuters, Makhloufi tried to withdraw from Monday’s 800m race but didn’t meet the deadline, and wandered into the infield after running only 200m of the race. Shortly afterwards, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) expelled him, saying:
"The referee considered he had not provided a bona fide effort and decided to exclude him from participation in all further events in the competition."
The Algeria Press Service (APS) reported that he withdrew with an injury and was reinstated after a medical examination showed that he had a lesion on the knee.
Taking the silver was an American, Leonel Manzano, in 3:34.79. Another African, Abdalaati Iguider of Morocco, took the bronze in 3:35.13.
Photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images
