The odds were stacked against Isaac Makwala. With "food poisoning," no competition to push himself, and London rain falling on the track, after two days of intense controversy in a special solo time trial set up for him, Makwala had one goal: to better 20.53 and place himself in the 200m semifinals to be run later in the day.

Ultimately, Makwala proved he is the 200m gold medal favorite by coming through and running a 20.20 clocking despite the rain and his illness to qualify for the 200m semifinal later in the day. As an added bonus to prove he is fit, Makwala got on the ground and did a set of clean pushups after his time, which was safely 0.35 seconds faster than he needed to run to qualify.

Makwala has been drawn in lane one of the first 200m semifinal, meaning he will not face van Niekerk until the final, should he make it.

Full Results: