16 May 2021

Isaac Makwala has qualified for the 200 and 400 metres race for the  2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

He qualified during the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) National Athletics Championships at the National Stadium over the weekend.

In the 400m race Makwala clocked 44.65 seconds making him the fifth track and field athlete to qualify for Tokyo 2020. He will join Nijel Amos, Christine Botlogetswe, Galefele Moroko and Amantle Montsho in the flight to Japan.

In the 200m race, which he ran today(May 16), he qualified with a time of 20.15.

During the 400m race on Saturday(May 15), he blasted from the block and it was clear that Makwala was in a mission to repeat history and qualify.

In the 100 metres mark, it was ‘Badman’ against the clock, and it did not come as a surprise when he stopped the clock at 44.66.

His coach, Justice Dipeba said he was happy that the athlete managed to hit the qualifying mark, adding that it had been a difficult time given that competitions were few due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dipeba said they had been worried as the deadline for qualification was June 29.

“We saw this qualification coming,” he said.

Dipeba said Makwala’s qualification did not come as a surprise to him because he was working hard during the week, adding that he had youthful athletes who helped to push him.

Furthermore, Dipeba said he stopped Makwala from training on Wednesday because he was fast. He said he told him that they had to wait for Saturday.

“The plan was not to wait for the finals but to qualify during the heats. We did this before when he qualified for Rio 2016 in Francistown.

He qualified in the heats, and this are the things that sometimes you just plan and execute them,” he said.

Track and field analyst, Aobakwe Showa said nobody was expecting Makwala’s performance considering that he had been struggling to run sub 46 since his return from injury.

He said it was evident that he was slowly regaining his confidence, and that running a sub 45s for the first time in three years would be a major boast for his confidence.

Showa said Makwala controlled the race and his pace was spot on, adding that he was explosive from the start, but not as quick as he always was.

He said the athlete quickly closed the gap on his main challenger Bayapo Ndori who himself was in a fine form.

He noted that he had a marginal lead in the final straight, but that the rest of field faded and it was him against the clock.

The analyst said Makwala was determined to run a season best. He noted that he struggled at the World Relays in the home straight indicating lack of endurance.

This time, he said Makwala found another gear and accelerated away from the pack until the last five to 10 metres.

“He is peaking at the right time making it less likely for the main competition of the year to fall in the phase of post start decrease,” he said.ENDS