Taoufik Makhloufi wins men's 1,500 meters Gold Medal 2012 London Olympics

Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria wins Olympic gold medal in men's 1,500 meters. Algeria's Taoufik Makhloufi claimed gold in the men's 1,500 meters Tuesday at the London Games, while Leonel Manzano of the United States won silver with a strong kick to the finish line.

Makhloufi won the race with a time of 3 minutes, 34.08 seconds and Manzano was .71 seconds behind for silver. Abdalaati Iguider of Morocco was next with a run of 3:35.13, beating Matthew Centrowitz of the U.S. by .04 seconds for the bronze.
All three men on the podium are first-time Olympic medalists.Centrowitz was ahead of his teammate during the final lap before Manzano stormed down the final stretch for silver.The Mexican-born and Texas-raised Manzano failed to make it to the final race four years ago in Beijing.Asbel Kiprop of Kenya, the defending Olympic and world champion, finished 12th out of 12 runners with a time of 3:43.83. New Zealand's Nick Willis, silver medalist in Beijing, placed ninth.