The IAAF on Wednesday morning hit back at suggestions from Isaac Makwala that “sabotage” had kept him from competing in last night’s 400metres final.
The Botswanan was barred from competing having been diagnosed with a virus after previously vomiting and his team told he must be quarantined for 48 hours.
But Makwala turned up at the London Stadium, only to be denied entry by security officials and told the Evening Standard the situation would have been different had it been a British athlete going for gold.
But a spokesperson for the IAAF said: “It is not conceivable that we would not have wanted an exciting double header between South Africa and Botswana to go ahead.
“These are volunteer doctors from all over the world and their only allegiance is to the health and well-being of the athletes under the Hippocratic oath. They don’t make decisions based on nationality.
“So, it is absolutely incorrect to say that if this had been a British athlete going for gold the situation would have been any different.”
Makwala had been marked out as the closest challenger to Wayde van Niekerk over both the 200m and 400m but was denied the chance to run in the 200m heats or last night’s 400m final.
He told the Standard: “It’s like it was sabotaged or something. I mean, if I was a British athlete and they knew that he was going to get a medal, they would let him run.”
The IAAF were also criticised for poor communication over the row, putting out a statement only at 9.45pm last night, just five minutes before the 400m final.
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But the body again defended their position on the matter. “It is not our place to give out information on athlete medical information,” it added.
“All the information on the athlete was given to his team leader, doctor and physio the night before. We had no idea the Botswanan team did not understand the situation until the athlete turned up at the stadium.”
