02 Aug 2021

 It was a moment to behold yesterday when the 400m sensation, Isaac ‘Badman’ Makwala, qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games final.

He came third with a time of 44.59 in a fast semi-final that featured 400m greats.

He was behind Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas and American, Michael Norman.

Batswana breathed a sigh of relief following the announcement that he qualified for the final after he came third with fastest time.

“We are within...... we made it,” these are some of the comments that engulfed the social media after Makwala qualified.

He would be the only African sprinter on the  Thursday final.  

Makwala acquitted himself well though he was pitted against the finest, with four men having personal best of under 44 seconds.

Makwala, who was on lane three, had Gardiner on his sights for most part of the race.

He maintained his speed on back straight and emerged out of the last bend on the lead.

However, he lost pace 50m before the finish line allowing Gardiner and Normal to overtake and relegate him to third spot.

Sunday Standard sport editor, Botlhale Koothopile, said 400m was one of the toughest races that required an athlete to be strategic.

He said Makwala needed to drive hard in the first 50m and having started slow, it meant when other athletes like Gardiner and Norman were transitioning to run at a constant pace with 100m to go, he was still trying to catch up.

“This then showed in the final phase as he could not properly kick and he thus failed to sprint in the final 50m, which allowed Norman to finish ahead of him,” he said.

Koothopile said for Makwala to do well in the finals, he would need to follow all the phases right by starting aggressively in the first 50m, transition well in the next 50m, then run the next 200m at a constant pace before kicking in with 100m remaining to allow himself to have a strong sprint in the last 50m.

Another Botswana athlete, Leungo Scotch, failed to make it through after finishing in position five with a time of 45.56 in 400m.

Track and field analyst, Aobakwe Showa, said Scotch was slow off the blocks as compared to the heats.

He stated that he lost a lot of stagger on his opponents running on the outer lanes, although he looked relaxed on the back straight and seemed like someone who had reserved for final phase of the race.

 Showa said the athlete worked hard in the 200m and looked to be back in contention for at least a second spot behind American’s Michael Cherry who looked in total control. Ends