Sprinter Isaac Makwala continued his dominance ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games slated for 23rd July to 8th August 2021.
In his first race in the European tracks since the Covid-19 pandemic, the 36-year-old won the 200m race clocking 20.37 seconds at the FBK Games held in Netherlands over the weekend.
With just a few weeks ahead of the Olympic games, Makwala’s upward trajectory on track sharpens with every race. Currently ranked 45th in the 200m race and 103 in the IAAF World rankings, Makwala’s highest World rankings once reached 7th in the 400m and 43rd in the 200m races.
Following government restrictions on sporting activities, the former world champion struggled to make the Tokyo 2020 qualifying cut and eventually pushed for qualifying times a few weeks ago. Booking his Tokyo berth, Makwala effortlessly clocked 44.65 seconds in the 400m and clocked 20.17 seconds the following day for the 200m cementing his place at the games at the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) national championship.
Makwala’s next assignment will be the Florence Diamond League meet on the 10th June 2021 in Italy. The race includes the likes of Trinidad and Tobago’s Machel Cedenio, Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith and Anthony Zambrano from Colombia. Amongst the starting list, Zambrano’s season best is 44.51 followed by Makwala’s 44.65 while Smith clocked 45.51.
With their personal best records, Makwala leads the pack with 43.72, followed by Cedenio’s 44.01 and Zambrano’s 44.15. With at least eleven diamond league meets before the finals in Zurich, Switzerland from the 8th to 9th September 2021, July and August will witness more races of the athletics extravaganza.
