Isaac Makwala

Isaac Makwala

Makwala in 2015
Personal information
Born	(1985-09-24) 24 September 1985 (age 40) Tutume, Botswana
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	78 kg (172 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	200 metres, 400 metres
Club	Francistown Athletics Club
Medal record Men's athletics Representing   Botswana Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo 4×400 m relay IAAF World Relays 2017 Nassau 4x400 m relay 2021 Chorzów 4×400 m relay Commonwealth Games 2018 Gold Coast 400 m 2018 Gold Coast 4x400 m relay African Championships 2012 Porto Novo 400 m 2014 Marrakesh 400 m 2014 Marrakesh 4x400 m relay 2008 Addis Ababa 400 m 2010 Nairobi 4x400 m relay 2014 Marrakesh 200 m African Games 2007 Algiers 4x400 m relay 2015 Brazzaville 400 m 2015 Brazzaville 4x400 m relay Representing Africa Continental Cup 2014 Marrakech 400m 2014 Marrakech 4×400m relay
Updated on 17 September 2015

Isaac Makwala (born 24 September 1985 ^[1] ) is a Botswana sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. ^{[1] [2]}

Career

He was the gold medallist ^[3] at the Commonwealth Games in 2018. ^[4] He has also won continental titles at the distance, winning at the 2015 African Games ^[5] 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, ^[6] a silver medal at the 2017 IAAF World Relays ^[7] and medals at the African Games and Championships.

His personal best time of 43.72, ^[8] 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. ^[9]

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. ^{[10] [9]}

He qualified for 400m final at the 2017 World Championships, before being withdrawn from the race, due to illness. ^{[11] [12]} 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, ^{[13] [14]} placing overall sixth in the final. ^[13] 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. ^{[15] [16]}

He competed in the 400m at the 2020 Summer Olympics, finishing 7th in the final. ^[17]

Major competitions record

Representing   Botswana

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
2007	All-Africa Games	Algiers, Algeria	17th (sf)	400 m	47.02
			1st	4 × 400 m relay	3:03.16
	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	14th (h)	4 × 400 m relay	3:05.96
2008	African Championships	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia	2nd	400 m	45.64
			4th	4 × 400 m relay	3:06.54
2009	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	34th (h)	400 m	46.45
2010	World Indoor Championships	Doha, Qatar	– (h)	4 × 400 m relay	DQ
	African Championships	Nairobi, Kenya	14th (sf)	400 m	46.92
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:05.16
	Commonwealth Games	Melbourne, Australia	20th (sf)	400 m	47.07
			5th	4 × 400 m relay	3:04.65
2011	All-Africa Games	Maputo, Mozambique	7th	400 m	46.78
2012	World Indoor Championships	Istanbul, Turkey	5th (h)	4 × 400 m relay	3:13.21 (NR)
	African Championships	Porto Novo, Benin	1st	400 m	45.25
			–	4 × 400 m relay	DQ
2013	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	28th (h)	200 m	20.84
			22nd (h)	4 × 400 m relay	3:05.74
2014	Commonwealth Games	Glasgow, United Kingdom	9th (sf)	400 m	45.57
	African Championships	Marrakech, Morocco	2nd	200 m	20.51
			1st	400 m	44.23
			1st	4 × 400 m relay	3:01.89
2015	World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	8th	4 × 400 m relay	3:03.73
	World Championships	Beijing, China	5th	400 m	44.63
			9th (h)	4 × 400 m relay	2:59.95
	African Games	Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo	1st	400 m	44.35
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:00.95
2016	African Championships	Durban, South Africa	4th	400 m	46.58
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	22nd (sf)	400 m	46.60
			5th	4 × 400 m relay	2:59.06
2017	World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:02.28
	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	6th	200 m	20.44
			4th (sf)	400 m	44.30 1
2018	Commonwealth Games	Gold Coast, Australia	1st	400 m	44.35
			1st	4 × 400 m relay	3:01.78
2019	African Games	Rabat, Morocco	8th (sf)	400 m	46.55
2021	World Relays	Chorzów, Poland	3rd	4 × 400 m relay	3:04.77
	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	7th	400 m	44.94
			3rd	4 × 400 m relay	2:57.27
2022	World Championships	Eugene, United States	21st (sf)	400 m	46.04
			6th	4 × 400 m relay	3:00.14

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

Location	Time	Windspeed m/s	Date
Madrid	19.77	0.0	14/07/2017

400 metres

Location	Time	Date
Brazzaville	44.35	15/09/2015
Gold Coast Queensland	44.35	10/04/2018
La Chaux-de-Fonds	43.72 NR	05/07/2015
Marrakesh	44.23	12/08/2014

References

1. "Home of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games". Commonwealth Games - Birmingham 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
2. "Isaac MAKWALA | Profile | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
3. Editors, ATAF (10 April 2018). "Commonwealth Games: Makwala achieves golden promise with 400m title – Athletics Africa" . Retrieved 17 October 2025.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
4. "Makwala wins elusive 400m GOLD medal at Commonwealth Games | MAKING OF CHAMPIONS". 10 April 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
5. Omogbeja, Yomi (16 September 2015). "Wanjiru breaks Games record, Makwala and Amusan shine on Day 3 –… – Athletics Africa" . Retrieved 17 October 2025.
6. "Tokyo Olympics end on a high for US men with victory in 4x400m | REPORT | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
7. "FINAL | 4x400 Metres Relay | Results | Nassau (T. Robinson Stadium) 2017 | World Athletics Relays". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
8. "Isaac MAKWALA | Profile | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
9. "Makwala achieves historic 200m-400m double in Madrid | REPORTS | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
10. "Centro Deportive Municipal Moratalaz" [Moratalaz Municipal Sports Center](PDF) (in Spanish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2017.
11. Dutch, Taylor (8 August 2017). "Isaac Makwala Withdrawn From 400m Final At World Championships". FloTrack. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
12. "World Athletics Championships 2017: Isaac Makwala barred from 400m as he needed to be quarantined, say IAAF - Sports News , Firstpost". Firstpost. 9 August 2017. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
13. "Isaac Makwala has 'unfinished business' at World Athletics Championships". BBC Sport. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
14. Prevor, Harry (9 August 2017). "Isaac Makwala Is Freed: Runs 20.2 Solo, Qualifies For 200m Worlds Semifinal". FloTrack. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
15. "The Solo Runner: The Untold Story of Isaac Makwala: Tshube, Tshepang: 9789996862472: Amazon.com: Books". www.amazon.com. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
16. "Makwala presents his book titled The Solo Runner, and cover to UB Management | University of Botswana". www.ub.bw. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
17. Kolantsho, Calistus (5 August 2021). "Makwala misses out on maiden Olympic medal". Mmegi Online. Retrieved 17 October 2025.

External links

• Isaac Makwala at World Athletics
• Isaac Makwala at Olympics.com
• Isaac Makwala at Olympedia
• Isaac Makwala at the Commonwealth Games Federation (archived)
• Isaac Makwala at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (archived)