Makwala beats stomach virus to reach IAAF 200m final

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A last-minute chance to race again meant that sprinter Isaac Makwala was able to run in the men's 200m semi-final on Wednesday and get qualified for the final at the IAAF World Championships in London, after being barred from competing for medical reasons.

In the rain, Makwala, who is from Botswana, ran solo on the track, two days after other sprinters competed in the 200m heats. He finished in 20.20 seconds, 0.33 seconds under the qualifying mark.

He even dropped to the ground and performed five pushups.

Seen as a leading contender in both events, Makwala was prevented from running in Monday's 200m preliminaries and Tuesday's 400m final after he was quarantined for 48 hours on Monday over suspicions he might have caught a stomach flu as a norovirus outbreak erupted in one of the official team hotels.

The possibility of him contracting an infectious disease and the risk of infecting others led the IAAF to bar him from running.

Reuters photo‍

But on Wednesday, the sport's world governing body said the quarantine period had ended and Makwala was fit and could run in the 200m semi-final as long as he makes the qualification time.

"I'm running with anger," said the 30-year-old. "I have no point to prove because I know myself. I'm fit. I know I'm a great athlete. I believe in myself."

"I'm still running with my heart broken, I was ready to run the 400, that's the race I've been training for, I don't run the 200 very often," he further said.

Several athletes from Botswana, Germany, Canada, Ireland and Puerto Rico have fallen ill over the last few days, with some quarantined and others forced to miss their events.

Competition organizers said on Monday the illness was related to gastroenteritis, but public health officials said on Tuesday that laboratory tests had confirmed two cases of norovirus among approximately 30 victims.

8150km