South African wins 400 with a top rival missing
LONDON — If it seemed as though there were miles between Wayde van Niekerk and his closest competition on Tuesday — that wasn’t far from the truth.
On a chilly evening in which the South African sprinter eased up and still won his second straight 400-meter world title by 0.43 of a second, the man who was expected to give him the toughest test wasn’t even allowed in the stadium.
The stomach virus that hit a number of athletes at the world championships earlier in the week morphed into a fullfledged mess a few hours before the 400 final, when video surfaced of Isaac Makwala of Botswana — who has pushed Van Niekerk all season — being escorted from the athletes’ entrance to the stadium.
Makwala insisted he felt fine, but he vomited Monday before the heats of his other race, the 200 meters, and the IAAF said doctors checked him, determined he had norovirus and, per the recommendation of health regulators in Britain, told him he had to stay off the premises for 48 hours.
“I came here for a medal,” a healthy-looking Makwala said in an interview with BBC Sports. “Some people force you to withdraw. I’m OK to run, but someone’s saying you can’t run. It’s a bad thing.”
The IAAF put out a statement defending the decision, saying it “is very sorry that the hard work and talent of Isaac Makwala won’t be on display tonight but we have to think of the welfare of all athletes.”
Social media erupted with second-guessing and hypotheticals, including: What would the IAAF have done if this had been Usain Bolt? And, what’s the use of telling someone you’re sick when they’re just going to bar you from the stadium?
Van Niekerk won the race in a pedestrian-forhim 43.98 seconds, still two full paces ahead of silver and bronze medalists Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas and Abdalelah Haroun of Qatar.
Makwala wasn’t the only top runner missing.
Minutes before her heat in the 200 meters was to start, Tori Bowie withdrew. The American was in the stadium and went through warm-ups, but the scrapes and bruises on her hip from the dive over the line in her 100meter victory two nights before hadn’t healed enough for her to race. Her status for relays Friday and Saturday was to be determined.
Also missing was David Rudisha of Kenya, the world-record holder at 800 meters who pulled out last week with a leg injury — a move that turned the event into a free-for-all. Pierre-Ambroise Bosse of France wound up with the gold.
Other winners were no surprise: Conseslus Kipruto of Kenya in the steeplechase and Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic in the javelin — a victory that came a decade after her last world title.
America’s brightest moment came from Sam Kendricks, who was the only pole vaulter to clear 5.95 meters and grabbed his country’s third gold medal of the meet.
Eddie Pells is an Associated Press writer.