“On top of the world” is the apt phrase to explain how someone would feel after regaining a record that was broken 24 hours earlier. Such would have been the case for Botswana’s Isaac Makwala after setting a new African Record in the men’s 400m just a day after South Africa’s Wayde Van Niekerk pipped him to that honour.
Van Niekerk became the fastest 400m man on the continent after running the race of his life at the Paris Diamond League, beating Olympic Champion Kirani James to emerge tops in a time of 43.96s. At the time of doing that, Van Niekerk inked his name above Makwala as the African Record holder, but it looked like it spurred Makwala on to win the 400m in an astonishing time of 43.72s at the Resisprint meeting in the Swiss city of La Chaux-de-Fonds, surpassing his previous record of 44.01s.
Makwala also holds Bostwana’s 200m Record of 19.96s, while Van Niekerk recently broke the South African 200m record in Luzern, winning in a time of 19.94s. By so doing, they became the third and fourth athletes to ever run below 20s in the 200m and also below 44s in the 400m. It is an enviable record that makes them the only Africans to have done so, joining Michael Johnson and Lashawn Merritt on this exclusive list.
Going by their recent feats, both men remain medal hopefuls for Africa in the 400m at the World Championship in Beijing. The closet an African has gotten to being a quarter mile champion was through Nigeria’s Innocent Egbunike, who won Silver at the 1987 World Championship in Zurich, running a then African Record of 44.17s which stood for 19 years.
What it also means is that favourites like James and Merritt will be watching over their shoulders in August. Van Niekerk, Makwala and James have all done sub 44s this year, making it the first time since 1992 that three athletes have been able to do so. It surely raises anticipation for a mouthwatering contest.
As it stands, Makwala now ranks above James and Merritt in the all-time men’s 400m list, with the Botswana athlete now the 5th fastest man ever. Merritt and James follow in joint 6th with identical Personal Bests (PB) of 43.74s. James achieved his in Lausanne in 2014, while Merritt clocked his own time at the 2013 World Championship in Moscow.
To further highlight the significance of Makwala’s achievement, he is the only non-USA athlete in the all-time top five quarter-mile list. The four people ahead of him include: World Record holder, Michael Johnson; Harry Reynolds, Jeremy Warriner and Quincy Watts.
Does this mean Makwala is a favourite at the World Champs?
Makwala will have to prove that he is a championship runner, that he can string together three good races within the space of three days to be on the podium. All his African Records were achieved on the same track, which poses the question – can he do so on the big stage? Can he run that fast on another track? It is left to be seen if he can deliver at the Bird Nest stadium next month.
If Makwala can run his PB in Beijing, he stands a chance of becoming the champion, but who says the Olympic champion, James will not improve on his PB when the stakes are high?
Indeed Makwala’s PB of 43.72s will be enough to get a medal, but which colour we don’t know. Merritt has not had the best of times this year, but don’t count out the World Champion from producing the goods when it matters the most.
Another factor that could work for Makwala is that, Van Niekerk has shown that James can be beaten. The Grenadian remains the overwhelming favorite to win, but he will know that if falters in the race just like he did in Paris, he could kiss the world Championship title goodbye.
Dark Horses
David Verburg surprisingly won the 400m title at the US Championship, and he did so beating the likes of Merritt and Tony McQuay. That earned him a spot in the American contingent going for the World Championship, and he would no doubt be buoyed with confidence. However he will likely have to improve on his PB of 44.41s to be in the frame for a medal.
Another person to keep a keen eye on is Bahamian Steven Gardiner, who last month became his country’s National Record holder with his 44.27s triumph at their National Championships. At just 19, Gardiner has shown glimpses of what he is capable of doing. If he can put together a series of good races, he should contest for the final.
Other quarter-milers who could also make the final include: Qatari teenager Abdalelah Haroun and Saudi Arabia’s Yousef Masrahi have a strong case too, as well as the indefatigable Borlee twins from Belgium.
From an African perspective, it will be interesting keeping tabs on Makwala and Van Niekerk who both have the fastest times in the 400m this year.
“Hahaha. Quite a short lasting record… well done Isaak Makwala 43.73. You did well… :)…” Van Niekerk wrote on his Twitter page after Makwala regained the AR. Come August, we might see either of them writing to congratulate the other person on the winning the World title… It’s a possibility.
Am very happy for the records. I hope nigerians can start running well as well.