Algeria: Makhloufi Clinches Arab World’s First Olympic Gold · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.
Algeria's Taoufik Makhloufi clinched gold last night in the men's 1500m race, bringing the Arab world's first gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics.
Algerian Imad Mesdoua, who is based in London, exclaims:
@Imadou: The beauty of the Olympics: A poor kid from Souk Ahras makes it to London and wins the Gold. #Makhloufi #Algeria
Bayan adds:
@ThatAlgerian: So proud of my country for winning first gold for all the Arabs this year
And Mourad Yahiaoui explains:
@mourad_ty: We're a whole country of 36 million people hyping about one gold medal haha but that's what makes us Algerian #Makhloufi #OlympicChampion
The victory is also the first gold for Arabs at the Olympics. Zaid Souqi reminds us:
@ZaidSouqi: 1st #Arab #Gold medal won by Taoufik Makhloufi of #Algeria in the 1500m #Olympics
French journalist Nabila Ramdani, who is of Algerian descent, is taken aback with the negative coverage Makhloufi got. She notes:
@NabilaRamdani: Mean-minded coverage by @BBC of #Makhloufi's amazing run. Lots of use of the word ‘controversial’ & ‘how did he do that?’ #NastyInnuendos
Daily Express journalist Mark Reynolds agrees. He tweets:
@MarkReynolds007: As #Makhloufi has not tested positive for any drugs, that was a pretty mean innuendo-filled assessment by the BBC of that amazing run. #1500
And Imad tells us why such coverage has marred the victory. He writes:
@Imadou: The French and British TV commentators hinting at drugs ruined it 4 us though.
This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.