NDORI REACHES 400M FINAL

BONGANI MALUNGA

Bayapo Ndori continued his rich vein of form in the 2022 IAAF World Championships after reaching the 400m final today (Thursday). Ndori clinched his place in the final after finishing second in the men’s semifinal heats. 2022 has been a great year for Ndori who also earned a silver medal in the African Championships in Athletics last month.
The nation rushed to rub the crust out its eyes in the early hours of Thursday morning to witness Ndori’s personal moment of excellence.

Ndori’s decent stride
He finished behind the decorated Granada track star Kirani James who strolled past the heats as he has done over the years. Ndori recorded a time of 44.94 and finished the race with a decent stride as he showed no signs of slowing down towards the finish line. The 23 year old will now be Botswana’s hope for a podium finish in the final as he aims to become the country’s first male 400m athlete to win a world title.

Makwala eliminated
His countryman Isaac Makwala was unfortunate as he finished eighth with a time 46.04 in the semifinal heats, this saw him eliminated from the final. Makwala faced familiar foes such as southern African counterpart Wayde Van Nierkek but he could not keep up in a highly competitive race.

The 400m final race was supposed to be the perfect swansong for Makwala who enjoyed a great career and publicly stated that this could be his last World Championships campaign. Makwala still has a chance to redeem himself in the 200m and 4×400 relay categories. That will give him a chance to finish the competition on a high.