07 Jun 2021

Botswana 200m and 400m runner, Isaac Makwala continued with his good performance this season winning a 200m event with a time of  20.37  in the FBK Continental tour games in Hengelo,  The Netherlands on Sunday.

His next stop will be Rome Florence Diamond League where he will compete in the 400m event  on Thursday.

Makwala, who was on lane six during the Sunday race, started very slow giving the Italian Eseosa Fositne-Desalu a ray of hope that he will hit the finish line first.

However, that was not the case as in the remaining metres, Makwala put more effort and opened a convincing gap to win his first race in Europe this season.

Track and field analysts, who were watching the race, commended Makwala for his brilliant performance on the day.

Bonno Modisenyane said both the athlete and his coach, Justice Dipeba had executed a very good plan, adding that Makwala could have gone faster adding that maybe travelling could have had an impact on his performance.

“With a month left before Tokyo Olympics his preparations are going pretty well and he could even bag a medal in the half-lap event if he decides to contest it,” he said.

Another analyst Lentswe Charles said the first half of the race was very competitive as some of his opponents went explosive on the turn.

He said Makwala executed his race plan, coming out of the bend gaining momentum with the Italian Desalu in lane five running closer to him, giving him a bit of competition dominating the race as they accelerated with a non-decreasing velocity in front of other sprinters in the homestretch.

He said with about 15 metres remaining, he went a bit explosive feeling much energetic leading in front of all sprinters who seemed to have reached maximum velocity fast.

Charles said Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre and Desalu, who threatened Makwala in the first 150 metres of the race, seemed to fade slightly and unable to cope with his speed.

He said good preparation was visible and his performance was improving well with time since there was less time remaining before the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Furthermore, Charles said running 200m at this time of the season would help in the speed, which was vital for his 400m and 4x400m relay races.

“If he continues working hard in the remaining time he will run Sub 20 seconds times, as they are greatly needed. I wish him an injury-free season,” he said. Ends