Makwala qualifies for Olympics
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday May 15, 2021 14:41
The qualifying time for Olympics is 44.90 seconds.
Makwala becomes the forth athlete from athletics to qualify for Olympics after Nijel Amos, Galefele Moroko, Amantle Montsho, Christine Botlogetswe. The two boxers, Keamogetse Kenosi Rajab Mohammed have booked themselves slots in Tokyo.
Speaking to Mmegi Sport after the race, Makwala said he was not surprised about his qualification.
“May and June are my peak times. So this was my right moment to qualify. When you look back to 2014 when I started to run sub 44, I did 44:92 in May. I knew today I was going to run fast. I did not expect to be fast in 400m but 200m,” he said.
Makwala said his plan for this year is to focus on 200m. He explained that he runs 400m for the benefit of the 4X400m relay team.
National team coach, Justice Dipeba said he expected Makwala to qualify today. “I have been monitoring his progress and even on Wednesday, I had to stop him during a training session because he was too fast. This is the second time I used this method of going all out without thinking about the final. We did this when we qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics. We qualified in the heats,” Dipeba said.