MAKWALA’S LAST LAP – OLYMPICS
Arguably, Badman, as affectionally known by his supporters is one of the greatest athletes in Botswana, and his name is inscribed in Botswana’s greatest athletes of all time.
TALKING POINTS
- Makwala`s last lap in Olympics 2020+1
- Olympics last hope for Botswana
The job of being Isaac Makwala, 35, is about to be more complex than ever before. While Batswana still believe and drool for more from their undisputed and dominant forces in our lifetime, Makwala’s decade–long career reaches the finish line.
In 2021, the legendary Botswana sprinter will possibly run his last Olympics. He is expected to run on the much-celebrated Botswana 4 x 400 – meter relay team, 400 – meter, and 200 – meter, which will be his final appearance on the track, and then he will be gone.
“My target was this year’s Olympics, unfortunately they were postponed and the bad part is that I was starting to get in shape and I was also close to hitting the qualifying time” Isaac Makwala during an interview
ISAAC MAKWALA`S RISE TO SUCCESS
It started with African Championships, and World Champions in 2008, where he represented Botswana.
At the African Championships in Addis Ababa, Badman nearly won a gold medal where the winner of the race had to be decided using photo-finish which declared him as the second-best. This record was one of the best since he joined athletics and helped him to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in China, where he did not feature.
He maintained his brilliant performance in the lead up to the 2012 London – his first Olympics – where he exited in the heats.
He worked extremely hard and gained experience as he participated in international competitions. In 2015, he qualified for Rio Olympics in 200 – meters: which he dropped, and 400 – meters of which he exited in the semi finals after finishing in position 8 by clocking 46.6 seconds.
Badman erupted onto the world in 2017 at the IAAF when he became the first man in the history of athletics when he ran solo in the 200 – meters in 20 seconds after being disqualified pertaining to dangers of the certain virus which was wavering in the London area at the time, and 400 – meters in 44 seconds in the same day at Meeting in Madrid.
To Batswana and the whole world, he has been a rare occurrence who has made the sport more fun and easier. He has been an absolute gem and led the Botswana team under withering pressure.
It remains a mystery when the proposed, and much anticipated Makwala Complex, an envisaged stadium to be named after him, will be built to honor the Tutume born for true patriotism and love for his country.
