Taoufik Makhloufi will be going for gold tonight in the final of the men’s 800m. Having won the 1500m in London four years ago, he now has the opportunity to become the first ever Algerian Olympian to win two gold medals and arguably make himself Algeria’s greatest sportsperson of all time.

He qualified comfortably for the final, recording a time of 1:49.17 in the heats and then 1:43.85 in the semi-finals and he will be looking to win Algeria’s first medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Reigning champion David Rudisha will be difficult opposition as the Kenyan won with ease at London 2012, where he broke both the World Record and the Olympic Record with a time of 1:40.91.

However, Makhloufi qualified for the final in the quickest time and he will be looking to also record the fastest time when the starting pistol is fired at 2.25am tonight. The 28-year-old Algerian will be running in lane 6, whilst Rudisha will be in lane 3.

The other six competitors are USA duo Clayton Murphy (lane 1) & Boris Berian (lane 7), Kenyan duo Ferguson Rotich (lane 8) & Alfred Kipketer (lane 5), Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski (lane 2) and the Frenchman Pierre-Ambroise Bosse lane 4).