Isaac Makwala has been cleared by the IAAF to compete in the men’s 200m, with the Botswana athlete now going to run alone as he aims to qualify for the semifinals later tonight.
Having missed the 200m heats on Monday after he was quarantined because of the outbreak of gastroenteritis, which also made him miss the 400m final last night, Makwala will now get another opportunity to compete having been cleared by the medical team.
To qualify for the semis, Makwala who will be running alone from lane 7 will have to run a time faster than 20.53s to get a slot into the next round.
“The IAAF has received a written request from the Botswanan federation for Isaac Makwala to compete in the 200 metres,” the IAAF said in a statement.
“Given his quarantine period expired at 14:00 hrs today (9 Aug) and following a medical examination which has declared him fit to compete, we have agreed under our existing rules that assuming he makes the qualification time, he will run in the 200m semi-final round this evening.”
“Makwala is required to run a time of 20.53 or faster to advance to the semi-finals. He will run at 18:40hrs this evening on his own in lane 7, which was his original lane draw in the opening round,” the statement further read.
This will come as scant consolation to Makwala who was very embittered on Tuesday when he was turned back by security officials when he arrived for the 400m final.
