The United States hadn’t won a medal in the Men’s 1500m since the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City, but that near half a century dry run was snapped on Tuesday when American Leo Manzano won the silver medal. Manzano just barely missed out on the gold medal, finishing up just 0.71 seconds behind Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi.
2012 Summer Olympics: Leo Manzano Takes Home Silver In Men’s 1500m
“If he deserves it, I guess it was up to the people,” Manzano told the Associated Press. “I don’t know what his objective was. He probably knew what it was, but I really don’t know.”
Coincidentally enough, Makhloufi had been expelled from the Olympics for not trying hard enough in the Men’s 800m qualifying, but the Olympic Committee permitted him to return after a doctor backed up his claim of a knee injury. If not for Makloufi being reinstated, Manzano might have had a gold medal.
“At the end of the day, I was like, ‘Whether he’s in or out, I’ve still got to race,’ ” Manzano told Yahoo! Sports. “Of course, if he’s not running, fine. It’s a lot better for everybody else. But if he’s running [or] not running, I can’t do anything about that. It doesn’t matter.”
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