London: Mohammad Shaween of Saudi Arabia and Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi did the Arab world proud when they won their respective heats of the men’s 1,500 meters on the opening day of the 2012 London Olympics track and field before a packed Olympic Stadium here late on Friday.
Makloufi won the first heat of the run in a time of 3 minutes, 35.15 seconds to finish ahead of Ethiopia’s Gebremedhin Mekonnen (3:36.56) and defending Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop of Kenya (3:36.59). The Algerian’s effort was the best on the night.
Shaween was quickest in the second heat in a time of 3:39.42 followed by Qatar’s Driouch Hamza (3:39.67) and Ozbilen Ilham Tanui of Turkey (3:39.70).
Great Britain also had its two runners making it through to the next round when Ross Murray finished fourth in the first heat and was followed by teammate Andrew Baddeley in the sixth spot during the second heat.
The top six places from each of the three heats qualified for the semi-finals. The world record of 3:26.00 was set by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj in 1998 while the Olympic Record stands at 3:32.07 in the name of Kenya’s Noah Ngeny.
