Taoufik Makhloufi ( ar, توفيق مخلوفي; born 29 April 1988) is an Algerian

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-de ...

who specialises in

middle-distance running Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

. He became the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

Olympic champion at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

in London, England. In 2016, Makhloufi took the silver medal in the 800m and 1500 m at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

in Rio, Brazil. He was also the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

gold medallist at the 2012 African Championships and the

2011 All-Africa Games The 10th All-Africa Games took place between September 3–18, 2011 in Maputo, Mozambique. Maputo's hosting marked the third time the Games was held in the southern part of the continent. Host awarding In April 2005, Lusaka, Zambia was named t ...

. He has represented Algeria three times at the World Championships in Athletics. His personal bests are 1.42.61 minutes for the 800 m, set at the Rio Olympics, and 3:28.75 minutes for the 1500 metres. He trains with GS Pétroliers.

Career

Born in Souk Ahras, Makhloufi made his international debut at the

2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 24, 2007. The races were held at the Mombasa Golf Course in Mombasa, Kenya. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races enco ...

, where he finished 82nd in the 8 km junior race. He began competing at the senior level in 2009 and at the

2009 Mediterranean Games The 2009 Mediterranean Games, officially the XVI Mediterranean Games ( it, XVI Giochi del Mediterraneo) and commonly known as Pescara 2009, was a multi-sport event held in Pescara, Italy, from 26 June to 5 July 2009. It was governed by the Inter ...

he placed fourth in the 1500 metres. 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 The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

, where he was a semi-finalist.Makhloufi, Taoufik

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

. Retrieved on 2 July 2012. In 2010 he improved his best to 3:32.94 minutes at the

Herculis The Herculis is an annual track and field meet at Stade Louis II in Fontvieille, Monaco. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Diamond League. World records Over the course of its history, five world re ...

meeting and ranked among the top twenty that year. He reached the 1500 m final at the

2010 African Championships in Athletics The 2010 African Championships in Athletics was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 28 July to 1 August 2010. Background The African Championships in Athletics were held in Kenya for the first time. Previously two major athletics events have been held i ...

, but failed to finish. Makhloufi's fastest run of 2011 (3:34.4 minutes) came at a national meeting in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

and he competed twice on the

2011 Diamond League The 2011 IAAF Diamond League (also known as the 2011 Samsung Diamond League for sponsorship purposes) was the second edition of the Diamond League, an annual series of fourteen one-day track and field meetings. The series began on 6 May in Doha, Q ...

circuit (in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor, it is home to m ...

and

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

). After taking his second Algerian 1500 m title, he was again selected for the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

team and again reached the semi-final stage. It was at the

that he made his international breakthrough. He won the 1500 m

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receiv ...

behind Kenyan opposition, then defeated the much more favoured Boaz Kiplagat Lalang in the 800 metres final to take his first continental

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

2012 Summer Olympics

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 Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populatio ...

and he improved his 800 m best to 1:44.88 minutes in Stockholm. 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 The 2012 African Championships in Athletics was held at the Stade Charles de Gaulle in Porto Novo, Benin from 27 June to 1 July 2012. It was the first time that Benin had hosted the event. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Participatin ...

, setting a personal best of 1:43.88 minutes in the process. On 20 July he set a new personal best at the 1500 m at Herculis meeting in Monaco with a time 3:30.80. He achieved the qualifying standard for the 1500 m and 800 m and was entered in both races at the

. He reached the 1500 m final after winning his heat and semi-final. The Algerian Olympic Association had failed to withdraw him from the 800 m event, which he no longer wished to compete in, and he was forced to enter the race. Makhloufi slowed and dropped out in the early stages of his 800 m – a performance that led to him being disqualified from the Games as the

referee "considered that he had not provided a bona fide effort". However, he was re-instated after producing an independent medical certificate showing that an ailment had hampered his efforts. The following day, Makhloufi won the 1500 m Olympic final with a time of 3:34.08 minutes, clocking the last lap in 52.76 sec defeating among others the reigning Olympic champion

Asbel Kiprop Asbel Kipruto Kiprop (born 30 June 1989) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner, who specialises in the 1500 metres. He was awarded the 1500 m gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics after the original winner, Rashid Ramzi, tested positive for ...

. This performance surprised critics given his previous medical statement and the quality of the field. Makhloufi explained that his improvements stemmed from a change of coach and his intensive training that year. In early June 2013, while in preparation in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

for the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013) () was an international athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10–18 August 2013. Initially, Russia won the most gold medals to top the table for the first time since 200 ...

, he contracted liver disease (

hepatitis A Hepatitis A is an infectious disease of the liver caused by ''Hepatovirus A'' (HAV); it is a type of viral hepatitis. Many cases have few or no symptoms, especially in the young. The time between infection and symptoms, in those who develop the ...

) and was hospitalized on June 12. He only ran the Mile race in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, ...

on June 1, 2013 and later announced not participating at the world championships in Moscow that year. In February 2014, he started his preparation in the USA, and later in Iten (

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

) joining Mohamed Farah training team, before running several meetings later in Summer setting a new personal best in the 800 m in Berlin with 1:43.53 on 31 August 2014 after finishing second to

Mohamed Aman Mohammed Aman Geleto (Amharic: መሀመድ አማን; born 10 January 1994) is an Ethiopian middle-distance runner. Born in Asella, he is the winner of the 800-meter final at the 2013 World Athletics Championships in the Luzhniki stadium in Mos ...

, and another personal best in the 1500m with a time of 3:30.40 after finishing fourth in the Doha Diamond League meeting on 9 May 2014 in a race won by

. On 1 July 2015, he won the European Athletics Classic meet 1000m in Tomblaine, France in a new Algerian record of 2:13.08 beating the existing record set by Noureddine Morceli since 1993.

2016 Summer Olympics

On 15 August 2016, he set a new personal best and Algerian record in the 800m final at the Olympic Games in Rio with a time of 1:42:61 finishing second behind David Rudisha from Kenya. Only 8 hours later, he started the qualifying rounds of the 1500 m reaching the final where he finished second behind Matthew Centrowitz in a slow tactical race winning his second silver in the

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

and his third Olympian medal. Makhloufi missed the entire 2017 and 2018 seasons due to injury and couldn't take part of the

2017 World Athletics Championships Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

in London. He finished second behind Kenyan

Timothy Cheruiyot Timothy Cheruiyot (born 20 November 1995) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner specialising in the 1500 metres. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the event. At the World Athletics Championships, Cheruiyot won the silver medal in 20 ...

in the 1500 m at the

2019 World Championships in Athletics The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held bet ...

winning his first medal at a world championship with a season best time of 3:31.38.

2020 Summer Olympics

In 2019, Makhloufi was awarded the Medal of Order of Merit by the Algerian government as a compensation of his outstanding sport career representing Algeria in international competitions. In March 2020, Makhloufi travelled to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

to prepare for the planned

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

on high altitude, but was trapped by the pandemic and was unable to regain Algeria until late July 2020. Makhloufi expressed his anger on social media and criticized the Algerian authorities for not doing their best to get him back after the Olympics were postponed. He dismissed his training camp planned in Mexico on January 10, 2021 due to an injury that he was treating in Algeria and continued his preparations for the

where he qualified for the 1500 m event after achieving the qualification standard in the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held betw ...

. Though he had not raced since October 2019, Makhloufi was entered to run in the 1500 metres event at the

; however before the start of competition he withdrew due to a knee injury.

Achievements

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Makhloufi, Taoufik Living people 1988 births People from Souk Ahras Algerian male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Algeria Olympic gold medalists for Algeria Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Algeria World Athletics Championships medalists Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists for Algeria Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2009 Mediterranean Games African Games gold medalists for Algeria African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 All-Africa Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 African Games Mediterranean Games competitors for Algeria 21st-century Algerian people 20th-century Algerian people