Manzano Gets Silver!!! Suspicious Makhloufi wins Gold
Centro takes fourth in first Olympics


FULL RESULTS
FloHouse Reaction to 1500

The men's 1500 final was a mind-blowing performance that was left to a kicker's race as Algerian  Taoufik  Makhloufi commanded the lead with a lap to go and broke away to win in 3:34.08.  After failing to qualify for the final in Beijing, USA's Leo Manzanoexecuted the kick of the century to earn his first Olympic medal with a season's best of 3:34.79. The former Texas Longhorn came barrelling down the straight-away to just edge out Moroccan Abdalaati Iguider  who came away with the bronze just 0.04 ahead of America's world bronze medalist Matt Centrowitz .

Manzano becomes the first American to win a 1500 meter medal since the legendary Jim Ryun won silver in 1968.


1500 Final Timeline:

Leo Manzano looking focused on the starting line.


400 - 58.3 with Chepseba and Ali up front. Centro sitting in 4th while Manzano is back in 10th. Both Centro and Manzano took these positions right from the gun. 


800 - 1:58 Chepseba, Ali, and Centro. The pace slows and there is virtually no movement in the pack. Manzano is sitting in a typical spot for himself half through a race and being right next to Olympic Champ Kiprop, things seem to be going smooth.


Coming up to 500 meters to go and the pack begins to bunch. Centro has moved outside to ready himself for an injection in pace while Manzano, still in 10th, sticks close to the pack. Willis has sat the whole race and is poised to show his speed we've seen in earlier races. Makhloufi from Algeria has been quiet up until this point.


Coming up to one lap to go and Makhloufi is about to push his way through the field for the second time to put himself in position for the final push.


About 2:41 with 400 to go and Makhloufi is in the lead. Centro who was just previously in second next to Willis finds himself boxed in sitting fourth. Willis is pinned on the rail in 5th. Gebremedhin of Ethiopia is moving outside of Centro. Manzano has only moved up one position due to a fading/injured Kiprop.


1200 - 2:54.72 - Makhloufi leading with Silas Kiplagat of Kenya following in second. Centro has dropped to 6th, while Gebremedhin continues to move up. Willis still in striking position while Manzano is a step off of the pack in 9th.


From 1200m to 1300m Makhloufi drops a 12.6 distancing himself from the field. Willis fades one place while Leo moves up a spot. Kiplagat and Gebremedhin seem to be in good positions to medal at this point.


Makhloufi runs his next 100m in 12.5 (25.1 seconds over the last 200m, official splits from BBC broadcast) putting the Gold medal out of reach for the rest of the field, similar to what he did in the semi-final. Manzano has made the biggest move of the field from 8th to 6th, now sitting on Centrowitz.


Iguider of Morocco turns on jets to move into the Silver medal position. Manzano, still 6th, takes out the signature "blades" and begins his final push. Silver seems slightly far fetched.....until you see him move! Centro follows


Here it is, the moment that the US has been waiting for since 1968. Manzano moves into the medals and oh yes, its silver! As Kiplagat, the World #2 ranked man, fades back 6th the American Centro tries to chase down a second US medal.


Crossing the line in second, Mazano throws up the arms after the biggest race of his life! Centro, the Bronze medalist a year ago at World's, finish .04 out of the medals. 


Questions are swirling about the virtually unknown Makhloufi as he took down the Olympic champ and silver medalist along with last year's World champ, World silver and World Bronze medalist. Making his first global championship final, Makhloufi had only made the 2009 and 2011 World Championships where he was a semi-finalist. See his progression of times here.


For Manzano it has been a successful yet bumping road throughout his career. Having shown steady improvement at every championship he has competed in (with the exception of Daegu last year where he was injured), Leo finally found himself in position to use the dangerous closing speed we've all seen from him since his high school days at Marble Falls. 

USA USA USA!!!!

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1500 Meter Prediction Contest

Flotrack and the Running Warehouse are give you a chance to win custom uniforms for your team. Get your predictions in by 9:15pm London Time (4pm ET/1pm PT in the United States). Click here to submit your predictions.

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Makhloufi reinstated to 1500 Final

Late last night Algerian Taoufik Makhloufi was reinstated into the 1500 meter final after being disqualified earlier in the day for failing to put out a full effort in the 800 meter preliminaries. See story below for more details.

See story from Yahoo Sports

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1500 meter final start lists

Order	Bib	Athlete	Country	SB 2012	PB
1	2612	Nicholas Willis	NZL	3:30.35	3:30.35
2	3210	Matthew Centrowitz	USA	3:34.90	3:34.46
3	2295	Nixon Kiplimo Chepseba	KEN	3:29.77	3:29.77
4	2456	Abdalaati Iguider	MAR	3:33.99	3:31.47
5	1687	Mekonnen Gebremedhin	ETH	3:31.45	3:31.45
6	2299	Silas Kiplagat	KEN	3:29.63	3:29.27
7	3078	Ilham Tanui Özbilen	TUR	3:33.32	3:31.37
8	3234	Leonel Manzano	USA	3:35.75	3:32.37
9	1252	Belal Mansoor Ali	BRN	3:35.40	3:31.49
10	2596	Henrik Ingebrigtsen	NOR	3:36.39	3:36.39
11	1008	Taoufik Makhloufi	ALG	3:30.80	3:30.80
12	2300	Asbel Kiprop	KEN	3:28.88	3:28.88

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Fastest qualifier Makhloufi disqualified

Taoufik Makhloufi, the fastest qualifier from the men's 1500 meters, was been thrown out of the Olympics after referees deemed he did not give a full effort in the heats of the 800 meters this morning. 

Makhloufi ran just 200 meters of the race before dropping out in a visibly lackluster effort.

He can still be reinstated if he gets a doctor's note.

Story from Reuters here.

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Men's 1500 Final Announced:

Check out the final line up, including two Americans, for the men's 1500 meters at the 2012 London Olympic Games:

Order	Bib	Athlete	Country	SB 2012	PB
1	2612	Nicholas Willis	NZL	3:30.35	3:30.35
2	3210	Matthew Centrowitz	USA	3:34.90	3:34.46
3	2295	Nixon Kiplimo Chepseba	KEN	3:29.77	3:29.77
4	2456	Abdalaati Iguider	MAR	3:33.99	3:31.47
5	1687	Mekonnen Gebremedhin	ETH	3:31.45	3:31.45
6	2299	Silas Kiplagat	KEN	3:29.63	3:29.27
7	3078	Ilham Tanui Özbilen	TUR	3:33.32	3:31.37
8	3234	Leonel Manzano	USA	3:35.75	3:32.37
9	1252	Belal Mansoor Ali	BRN	3:35.40	3:31.49
10	2596	Henrik Ingebrigtsen	NOR	3:36.39	3:36.39
11	1008	Taoufik Makhloufi	ALG	3:30.80	3:30.80
12	2300	Asbel Kiprop	KEN	3:28.88	3:28.88

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Men's 1500 semi-finals in the books

Heat 1:
Things went out in a slow pedestrian pace as defending Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop strolled along as the race leader through 800 meters in 2:07 and 1200 meters in 3:03. Then with 200 meters to go little known Algerian 3:30 man Taoufik Makhloufi took off and easily won the heat in 3:42.24. Kiprop finished second ahead of Mekonnen Gebremedhin while American Leo Manzano, boxed up at the early stages of the race, found himself in the right position on the final straightaway and kicked his way into fourth place. Manzano becomes the first American to qualify for the men's 1500 meter final since 2000.

Heat 2:
Unlike the very slow first section, Nixon Chepseba made sure it went out fast, taking the pace through 56 seconds for the first 400 meters and 2:53 through 1200 meters. With half a lap to go Morocco's Abdalaati Iguider took off and finished in 3:33.99 while opponents Silas Kiplagat, Nick Willis, Chepseba and Matt Centrowitz eased into the final. Centrowitz joins Leo Manzano as the second American in the 1500 meter final.

FULL RESULTS HERE

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Updated: Aug 3, 6:00pm CT

Men's 1500 Semi-Final Rounds Announced

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  Men's 1500 Heats - USA On to Semi-final!

 

Heat 1 was not messing around as the first quarter went out in a 58.65 and was followed by a 1:57.37 for 800 meters. It became a battle with 400 meters to go when Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria took the lead and established himself from the pack. At 2:54.12 at 1200 to go, the pack began to move with a 55.15 final lap. Makhloufi of Algeria took the win in a 3:35.15 and was followed by Gebremedhin of Ethiopia, Kiprop of Kenya, Murray of Great Britain, Al-Garni of Quatar and a very close 6th place by Leo Manzano to edge his way into the semi-final. 

Heat 2 was not as consistent as the pack went out in a decent pace but slowed to a 62 for the second quarter for a 2:00.03 at 800 meters. Finland's Niclas Sandells and Andy Wheating were fearless as the two took the pack out in the first half of the race. At 1200 to go with a time of 2:58.57, the battle began between Sahween of Saudi Arabia, Driouch of Quatar, Ozbilen of Turkey, and KIplagat of Kenya.  The race came down to the final 50 meters as Sahween took the win in a 3:39.42 followed by Driouch, Ozbilen, Kiplagat, Brannen, Baddeley, and a disappointing 7th place for Wheating.

Heat 3 started out a little slower than the first two heats as the field took it out in a 59.51 for the first quarter with Nixon Chepseba of Kenya leading.  The pack came into the 800 meter mark in a slow 2:03 with the Kenyan still leading.  With 400 meters to go, Nick Willis of New Zealand assumed the lead and established himself among the pack, splitting a 53.46 for the final quarter.  In a heart-breaking last 300 meters, Chepseba was tripped and almost fell, taking him out of the running for the top 6 finishers. Willis came through the line in a 3:40.92 followed by Iguider, Kowal, Ingebrigtsen, Centrowitz, and Schlangen.

Full Results: 

  
updated: Aug 3, 1:30pm CT



It has been reported by French media outlet Lequipe that Moroccan Amine Laalou, 1500 standout who is schedule to race this evening at the 2012 London Olympics, has tested positive for the diuretic known as furosemide. This is the same substance his country women Mariem Alaoui Selsouli was banned for. Selsouli's positive test came after her massive PR in Paris, while Laalou's positive test comes from Monaco not long ago where he ran his second best time ever of 3:30.54. Laalou's PR comes from 2009 when he ran 3:29.53.

See orginal release of this story here.

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last updated: Aug 2nd at 4:21 am CT

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last updated: July 18th at 6:05pm CT

Men's 1500 Quick Hits
2012 London Olympic Games


1500 Meter Schedule:
Day 1, Aug 3rd - Round 1 (2:05pm CT) - qualifying procedure TBA
Day 3, Aug 5th - Semi-final (2:15pm CT) - qualifying procedure TBA
Day 5, Aug 7th - Finals (3:15pm CT)

1500 Meter Records:
World Record - 3:26.00 - Hicham El Guerrouj (MOR) 7/14/1998
Olympic Record - 3:32.07 - Noah Ngeny (KEN) 9/29/2000
American Record - 3:29.30 - Bernard Lagat 8/28/2005

The Favorites: (personal best/season best)
1. Asbel Kiprop, Kenya (3:29.78/3:29.78) - Reigning Olympic Champ, World Champion in 2011
2. Silas Kiplagat, Kenya (3:29.27/3:29.63) - World Champ Silver Medal in 2009, only man in last 5 years to run under 3:30 more than once.
3. Nixon Chepseba, Kenya (3:29.90/3:29.90) - New to global championships. Set PR in winning Hengelo, a race that had eight men under 3:35 and three under 3:32.

The Americans:
1. Leo Manzano (3:32.37/3:35.75) - 2x Olympian, semi-finalist in Beijing
2. Matt Centrowitz (3:34.46/3:35.84) - World Bronze medalist in 2011
3. Andrew Wheating (3:30.90/3:35.89) - '08 Olympian at 800 meters 

Past 1500 Olympic Results: (from wiki)

2000 Olympic Games 1 Noah Ngeny  Kenya   3:32.07 OR 2 Hicham El Guerrouj  Morocco   3:32.32   3 Bernard Lagat  Kenya   3:32.44

2004 Olympic Games Hicham El Guerrouj  Morocco 3:34.19   Bernard Lagat  Kenya 3:34.30   Rui Silva  Portugal 3:34.68

2008 Olympic Games Asbel Kipruto Kiprop  Kenya 3:33.11   Nicholas Willis  New Zealand 3:34.16   Mehdi Baala  France 3:34.21