Isaac Makwala

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.

He qualified for 400m final at the 2017 World Championships, before being withdrawn from the race, due to illness.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 after running solo in a time trial of the 200m heat which he had been banned from earlier, placing overall sixth in the final. The "Solo run" inspired the title of his book written by Dr. Tshepang Tshube entitled The Solo Runner: The Untold Story of Isaac Makwala published in 2021.

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

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 Olympedia
• Isaac Makwala at the Commonwealth Games Federation (archived)
• Isaac Makwala at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (archived)