Athlete claims ‘sabotage’
BOTSWANA medal hope Isaac Makwala has accused the IAAF of “sabotage” after he was excluded from the 400 metres world championships final on medical grounds following a bout of norovirus.
The 30-year-old had been expected to challenge favourite and Olympic champion Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa.
Video footage showed Makwala was prevented from entering the warm-up track and Botswanan officials criticised the IAAF for their heavyhandedness and lack of communication.
“They said I had food poisoning – which I don’t have. I was not tested for that,” Makwala told British TV network ITV.
“They didn’t even want to listen to me. They said, ‘No, you can’t run because you are sick.’ Sometimes I think maybe this is sabotage.”
Makwala claimed had he been British he would have been permitted to compete.
He said: “I asked myself, ‘What if I was a British guy, would they not allow me to run?’”