Makwala likely to be out for 10 months
LETLHOGILE MPUANG
Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) have revealed that they are unaware of the extent of 2018 Commonwealth 400m champion Issac Makwala’s injury, but have admitted that he is likely to be out of action for a lengthy period.
This season was certainty proving to be one of the best for the local sprinter as he won his first ever major title at this year’s Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. He further led Team Botswana to gold in the 4x400meters relay at the same event.
However, in May, while participating in a 200m race in the Diamond League, he was forced out of the race due to injury, and could be seen clutching onto his left hamstring in some discomfort.
The injury robbed him of a chance to take part in the recently held Africa Senior Athletics Championship in Nigeria. He will also miss out of this year’s Continental Cup, which he was so looking forward to, furthermore, he is most likely to fail to defend his Diamond League title.
In an interview with Gazette Sport BAA Public Relations Officer Ipolokeng Ramatshaba, told this publication that they are not in any position to shed some light on the injury.
“Yes, we are aware of his injury that he picked up during one of his races in the Diamond League, but we do not know how bad it is. We were told he could not perform at the Africa Championships due to the very injury,” revealed Ramatshaba.
“It is always difficult to have any information about an athlete’s injury especially when they get injured out there not on national team duty. Their agents can always advise better in this matter because they are the very people who are taking care of them to these races and their medical welfare, but in this case as the BAA we do not know how long he will be out,” he stated.
The PRO admitted that there was a good possibility of Makwala being out for some time, given how serious they injury appeared to be.
“Yes, there is a good chance that he might not be racing for some time based on how serious it looked, but like I said we cannot say it on record how long he will be out because we have not been told that. We tried to ask, but we were just told that he is injured,” reiterated the PRO.
According to close sources, Badman, as Makwala is known to many of his supporters, is expected to be off the track for at least 10 months. This is likely to see him miss out on the remainder of the season, and only returning to action early next year. However, sources further say given how good his recovery is turning out, there is also a possibility of an early return.
Meanwhile, Nigel Amos, Baboloki Thebe and Christen Botlogetswe will make part of the team that will represent Africa at the Continental Cup next month. The trio got the nod following their impressive performance at the Africa Champs.
Thebe and Amos scooped Gold in the 400m and 800m races respectively, while Botlogetswe managed a silver. The team is currently in Botswana preparing for the competition.