BONGANI MALUNGA
Botswana’s most decorated 400m male runner, Isaac Makwala, is set to lace up his spikes for the last time when he competes in the grand final of the Wanda Diamond League on Thursday next week.
The Letzigrund Arena in Zurich will be Makwala’s farewell stage of his successful career that he is determined to end with a Diamond League trophy from the famous Swiss city. The race will be broadcast on DSTV’s Supersport sports channel from 7pm.
Earned opportunity
Despite a slow start to this year’s Diamond League season where he struggled to record a top three finish in his first few races, Makwala has persevered and remained competitive throughout the season to qualify for the final.
He has racked up 17 points in this year’s 400m category and is currently ranked in the third spot in the Diamond League standings behind leader Kirani James (Granada) and second placed Vernon Norwood.
Makwala finished sixth in Silesia, Poland with a time 45.32 last week. The sixth placed finish was still enough to earn him a spot in the grand final where he will compete against James, Norwood, Michael Norman (USA), Liemarvin Bonevacia (Holland), Matthew Hudson-Smith (Great Britain), Bryce Deadmon (USA) and Lidio Feliz (Dominican Republic).
Old stomping ground
The Zurich setting is an all too familiar one for Makwala as he won his first Diamond League trophy in the Swiss city in 2017. He will be hoping for a repeat of those heroics in there next week.