ATHLETICS
Botswana star Isaac Makwala confident he can join elite group
Botswana star Isaac Makwala would like to become the fourth man in the world to break 31sec when he races the 300m in Pretoria on Thursday. Makwala‚ one of only five athletes on the planet to have run a sub-20sec 200m and sub-44sec 400m‚ will be one of the foreign stars on show at the Liquid Telecom Athletix Grand Prix meeting at the Tuks track. World 100m champion Justin Gatlin of the US is the main attraction in the 150m, in which he takes on Anaso Jobodwana‚ leaving Akani Simbine the out-and-out favourite for the 100m. Two of the three sub-20/ sub-44 men have been quicker than 31sec in the 300m — Wayde van Niekerk and American Michael Johnson. The third is Usain Bolt. Makwala and veteran American LaShawn Merritt are the two sub-20/sub-44 runners who have not been under 31sec in the 300; Merritt’s best is 31.23‚ while Makwala’s is 31.44. Van Niekerk owns the 30.81sec world best‚ which he took from Johnson (30.85) in 2017. Bolt’s best was 30.97. Makwala — the only man in the world ...
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