Isaac Makwala

Isaac Makwala

Makwala in 2015
Personal information
Nationality	Botswana
Born	(1985-09-24) 24 September 1985 (age 39) Tutume, Botswana
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	78 kg (172 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	200 metres, 400 metres
Club	Francistown Athletics Club
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Botswana Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo 4×400 m relay IAAF World Relays 2017 Nassau 4x400 m relay 2021 Chorzów 4×400 m relay Commonwealth Games 2018 Gold Coast 400 m 2018 Gold Coast 4x400 m relay African Championships 2012 Porto Novo 400 m 2014 Marrakesh 400 m 2014 Marrakesh 4x400 m relay 2008 Addis Ababa 400 m 2010 Nairobi 4x400 m relay 2014 Marrakesh 200 m African Games 2007 Algiers 4x400 m relay 2015 Brazzaville 400 m 2015 Brazzaville 4x400 m relay Representing Africa Continental Cup 2014 Marrakech 400m 2014 Marrakech 4×400m relay
Updated on 17 September 2015

Isaac Makwala (born 24 September 1985) is a Botswana sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres.

He was the gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games in 2018. He has also won continental titles at the distance, winning at the 2015 African Games and twice at the African Championships in Athletics (2012, 2014). He has represented his country Botswana at the 2016 Summer Olympics, three times at the Commonwealth Games, and five times at the World Championships in Athletics (2007, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017). With the Botswana 4 × 400 metres relay team he has won the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a silver medal at the 2017 IAAF World Relays and medals at the African Games and Championships.

His personal best time of 43.72, set 5 July 2015 in La Chaux-de-Fonds was an African continental record and ranks him 13th on the all-time list. He is also a sub-20 200 metres runner.

On July 14, 2017, Isaac Makwala became the first man in history to run a 200 m within 20 seconds and a 400 m within 44 seconds on the same day by running 43.92 in the 400, then 19.77 (no wind) in the 200, 2 hours and 20 minutes later at the Meeting de Atletismo Madrid.^[1][2]

He qualified for 400m final at the 2017 World Championships, before being withdrawn from the race, due to illness. He then qualified for the 200 m final, placing overall sixth.

He competed in the 400m at the 2020 Summer Olympics, finishing 7th in the final.

Representing  Botswana

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
2007	All-Africa Games	Algiers, Algeria	17th (sf)	400 m	47.02
			1st	4 × 400 m relay	3:03.16
	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	14th (h)	4 × 400 m relay	3:05.96
2008	African Championships	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia	2nd	400 m	45.64
			4th	4 × 400 m relay	3:06.54
2009	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	34th (h)	400 m	46.45
2010	World Indoor Championships	Doha, Qatar	– (h)	4 × 400 m relay	DQ
	African Championships	Nairobi, Kenya	14th (sf)	400 m	46.92
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:05.16
	Commonwealth Games	Melbourne, Australia	20th (sf)	400 m	47.07
			5th	4 × 400 m relay	3:04.65
2011	All-Africa Games	Maputo, Mozambique	7th	400 m	46.78
2012	World Indoor Championships	Istanbul, Turkey	5th (h)	4 × 400 m relay	3:13.21 (NR)
	African Championships	Porto Novo, Benin	1st	400 m	45.25
			–	4 × 400 m relay	DQ
2013	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	28th (h)	200 m	20.84
			22nd (h)	4 × 400 m relay	3:05.74
2014	Commonwealth Games	Glasgow, United Kingdom	9th (sf)	400 m	45.57
	African Championships	Marrakech, Morocco	2nd	200 m	20.51
			1st	400 m	44.23
			1st	4 × 400 m relay	3:01.89
2015	World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	8th	4 × 400 m relay	3:03.73
	World Championships	Beijing, China	5th	400 m	44.63
			9th (h)	4 × 400 m relay	2:59.95
	African Games	Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo	1st	400 m	44.35
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:00.95
2016	African Championships	Durban, South Africa	4th	400 m	46.58
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	22nd (sf)	400 m	46.60
			5th	4 × 400 m relay	2:59.06
2017	World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:02.28
	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	6th	200 m	20.44
			4th (sf)	400 m	44.301
2018	Commonwealth Games	Gold Coast, Australia	1st	400 m	44.35
			1st	4 × 400 m relay	3:01.78
2019	African Games	Rabat, Morocco	8th (sf)	400 m	46.55
2021	World Relays	Chorzów, Poland	3rd	4 × 400 m relay	3:04.77
	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	7th	400 m	44.94
			3rd	4 × 400 m relay	2:57.27
2022	World Championships	Eugene, United States	21st (sf)	400 m	46.04
			6th	4 × 400 m relay	3:00.14

¹Did not start in the final

• 200 metres - 19.77 secs, Madrid, Spain, 14 July 2017
• 400 metres - 43.72 secs (#2 African all time), La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, 5 July 2015.

As of 16 September 2024, Makwala holds the following track records for 200 metres and 400 metres.

• Isaac Makwala at World Athletics
• Isaac Makwala at Olympics.com
• Isaac Makwala at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)