Botswana’s Ndori emerges as fastest qualifier

One event Botswana has mastered very well is the 400m, and it is not surprising that in what looks like a swansong World Championships for their veteran athlete, Isaac Makwala, another younger athlete is already taking over the quarter-mile mantle from him.

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23-year old Bayapo Ndori ran the race of his life, leading the field in heat 5 of men's 400m to qualify for his first World Championships semifinal, running a new personal best of 44.87s and not only did he win his heat, he was also fastest overall in all the heats. Ndori shaved off one-hundredth from his previous PB of 44.88s which he ran earlier this season in Potchefstroom, and he looks like he is in a good shape.

Ndori ran from lane 8, and went out hard, holding his lead from start to finish He beat a respectable field that had former Olympic and World Champion, Kirani James who finished 2nd in a time of 45.29s. Being the fastest heat, two of the next best six times came from this heat, and it was down to Ndori who dragged everyone else on his tail.

"My aim was to watch the position for the qualification to the semifinal. I am very glad I managed to run a new PB. For now, I have to recover as my body is tired but we will see what happens," Ndori said after his huge win to book a spot in the semis on Wednesday.

For someone who grew up watching and idolizes Makwala just like most young quarter-milers across Botswana, Ndori would be happy that he has finally come of age, sharing the stage with Makwala.

Meanwhile, Makwala at 36, made his first world championship 400m semis in five years, edging out an automatic spot in heat 4 after getting in ahead of Mikhail Litvin to secure 3rd place in 45.93s. Makwala did say after the race that he would have preferred his trademark outer lanes.

"It was very tough to run in inside lane. I am not used to running there. I hope I qualify for an outside lane. I just want to take everything step by step and get to the finals. In the relay, we want to show the world that Tokyo was not a mistake."

Meanwhile World Record holder, Wayde Van Niekerk rolled back the years and showed what he is capable of, running a well measured race to win his 400m heat. The former world champion was in cruise control, and although it was his 2nd 400m in 2022, he still put down 45.18s to book his safe passage into the semis.

Van Niekerk's time was the second fastest overall in the heats, and if he produces such commanding performance in the semis like he did in the heats, his opponents might not know when he would pull away from them and possible reclaim the 400m title.

"There's a lot of love. I need to open up my legs a little bit to get my muscles going and see what I need to work on before I get to the semifinal. I feel much better, but obviously my mentality is to get into the finals and see what happens" Van Niekerk said.

African champion, Muzala Samunkonga didn't fizzle out playing on a much bigger stage. The Zambian fought his way into the 400m semis, securing an automatic spot in 45.82s just marginally finishing 2nd behind Michael Cherry by just one-hundredth of a second.

The 19-year old will be targeting a berth in the final of a senior championships, hoping to emulate or even surpass his 5th place from last year’s World U20 Championships in Nairobi.

Story by Charles Jerome