The 27-year-old clocked 13 minute 35.69 second, almost one second better than his earlier personal best of 13:36.62, in the first round heat number one but he ended up at the 15th spot in a top class field, which included defending champion Mo Farah of Great Britain, to bow out of the championships. “You have seen that with Usain Bolt”. It would have been great to see him win, but it doesn’t always happen that way. “I have to be ready”. It would be pretty awesome – no-one has every done it.
“Those boys are coming for me, they are hungry”. For all the young kids out there, you should believe that you can do it as well.
“I’m going to do it”. I knew across the line I’d be close to it’.
“I’m cold, it’s miserable out there but it’s job done”. I had to get back into some kind of running again. I could not qualify for the final round but I am not disappointed because I have done my best.
However last night Dr Pam Venning, the head of medical services for the IAAF, athletics’ governing body, insisted that Makwala had come into their medical centre of his own accord on Monday and was seen by one of their volunteer doctors and examined. It is just my body’s a bit exhausted. You aren’t going to win unless you recover, get rest, switch off, turn the lights off and get in the zone. In fact I went home to stay in Teddington, that’s where my family are, and I was like, “Nah, I need to get back in the hotel”. To run along with him is one of my dreams and I did that today.
In the steeplechase, Lennie Waite and Rosie Clarke failed to progress beyond their heats but Nick Miller qualified for the hammer final.