Isaac Makwala (born 24 September 1985) is a Botswana sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres.
Career He was the gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games in 2018. He has also won continental titles at the distance, winning at the 2015 African Games and twice at the African Championships in Athletics (2012, 2014). He has represented his country Botswana at the 2016 Summer Olympics, three times at the Commonwealth Games, and five times at the World Championships in Athletics (2007, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017). With the Botswana 4 × 400 metres relay team he has won the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a silver medal at the 2017 IAAF World Relays and medals at the African Games and Championships.
His personal best time of 43.72, set 5 July 2015 in La Chaux-de-Fonds was an African continental record and ranks him 13th on the all-time list. He is also a sub-20 200 metres runner.
On July 14, 2017, Isaac Makwala became the first man in history to run a 200 m within 20 seconds and a 400 m within 44 seconds on the same day by running 43.92 in the 400, then 19.77 (no wind) in the 200, 2 hours and 20 minutes later at the Meeting de Atletismo Madrid.
He qualified for 400m final at the 2017 World Championships, before being withdrawn from the race, due to illness. He then qualified for the 200 m final after running solo in a time trial of the 200m heat which he had been banned from earlier, placing overall sixth in the final. The "Solo run" inspired the title of his book written by Dr. Tshepang Tshube entitled The Solo Runner: The Untold Story of Isaac Makwala published in 2021.
He competed in the 400m at the 2020 Summer Olympics, finishing 7th in the final.
Major competitions record 2007All-Africa GamesAlgiers, Algeria17th (sf)400 m47.02 1st4 × 400 m relay3:03.16World ChampionshipsOsaka, Japan14th (h)4 × 400 m relay3:05.962008African ChampionshipsAddis Ababa, Ethiopia 2nd400 m45.644th4 × 400 m relay3:06.542009World ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany34th (h)400 m46.452010World Indoor ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar – (h)4 × 400 m relayDQAfrican ChampionshipsNairobi, Kenya14th (sf)400 m46.922nd4 × 400 m relay3:05.16Commonwealth GamesMelbourne, Australia20th (sf)400 m47.075th4 × 400 m relay3:04.652011All-Africa GamesMaputo, Mozambique7th400 m46.782012World Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey5th (h)4 × 400 m relay3:13.21 (NR)African ChampionshipsPorto-Novo, Benin1st400 m45.25 –4 × 400 m relayDQ2013World ChampionshipsMoscow, Russia28th (h)200 m20.8422nd (h)4 × 400 m relay3:05.742014Commonwealth GamesGlasgow, United Kingdom9th (sf)400 m45.57African ChampionshipsMarrakesh, Morocco2nd200 m20.511st400 m44.231st4 × 400 m relay3:01.892015World RelaysNassau, Bahamas8th4 × 400 m relay3:03.73World ChampionshipsBeijing, China5th400 m44.639th (h)4 × 400 m relay2:59.95African GamesBrazzaville, Republic of the Congo1st400 m44.352nd4 × 400 m relay3:00.952016African ChampionshipsDurban, South Africa4th400 m46.58Olympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil22nd (sf)400 m46.605th4 × 400 m relay2:59.062017World RelaysNassau, Bahamas2nd4 × 400 m relay3:02.28World ChampionshipsLondon, United Kingdom6th200 m20.444th (sf)400 m44.3012018Commonwealth GamesGold Coast, Australia1st400 m44.351st4 × 400 m relay3:01.782019African GamesRabat, Morocco8th (sf)400 m46.552021World RelaysChorzów, Poland3rd4 × 400 m relay3:04.77Olympic GamesTokyo, Japan7th400 m44.943rd4 × 400 m relay2:57.272022World ChampionshipsEugene, United States21st (sf)400 m46.046th4 × 400 m relay3:00.14 1Did not start in the final
Personal bests 200 metres - 19.77 secs, Madrid, Spain, 14 July 2017 400 metres - 43.72 secs (#2 African all time), La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, 5 July 2015.
Track records As of 16 September 2024, Makwala holds the following track records for 200 metres and 400 metres.
200 metres LocationTimeWindspeedm/sDate Madrid 19.77 0.0 14/07/2017
400 metres
LocationTimeDate Brazzaville 44.35 15/09/2015 Gold CoastQueensland 44.35 10/04/2018 La Chaux-de-Fonds 43.72NR 05/07/2015 Marrakesh 44.23 12/08/2014
References
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