Makwala rises to the occasion
THE loneliness of the short-distance runner certainly captured the attention of the London crowd here last night.
They knew Isaac Makwala had been denied the opportunity to contest the 400m final the previous evening because medical officials had said he had contracted the highly contagious norovirus.
Just as they knew he had declared himself fit to run, only for those officials to turn him away at the entrance to the stadium amid cries of sabotage and conspiracy and the chaos of a World Athletics Championships that seems to become more bizarre by the day.
But they also knew the size of the task facing him here after being given a most extraordinary, seemingly unprecedented reprieve to resume his quest for gold in the 200m — one that saw the IAAF being accused of a lack of professionalism.
If Makwala wanted to participate in last night’s semi-finals after missing Monday’s heats because of his illness, he had to run a solo 200m in the lane he had been given two days earlier — seven — in less than 20.53sec. For an athlete of Makwala’s calibre, that would not normally be a problem.
He is the fastest man in the world this year, not to mention the first man in history to run a sub-20 second 200m and sub-44 second 400m on the same night.
But Michael Johnson, who has emerged as Makwala’s champion these past two days and someone who dared suggest the IAAF had made their decision to guarantee victory for Wayde van Niekerk, took one look at the wet and windy conditions and declared it ‘a tall order’.
Out of quarantine and out there on the track, Makwala looked briefly to the heavens, crossed himself and then took up his position in the blocks.
The starter’s gun not only ignited the power in Makwala’s frame but sparked a huge roar from the stands.
Makwala accelerated beautifully around the curve before driving those arms through the driving rain in a mesmerising race against time that ended with him crossing the line with time to spare.
After seeing the clock stop at 20.20, Makwala rattled off five press-ups, saluted and then disappeared down the tunnel in preparation for a semi-final race that was due to start little more than two hours later.
Makwala followed his solo run with another impressive performance, finishing second in the opening semi-final in 20.14, just ahead of Great Britain’s increas- ingly impressive Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, who will also race tonight as the quickest of the two fastest losers.
That the second quickest of that pair was a surprisingly sluggish Van Niekerk was more than a little surprising, and would suggest the South African will not emulate Johnson in securing a rare 200m-400m double.