Athletics odds: Isaac Makwala 100/30 for 200m glory after reaching the London 2017 final following lifeline

However, the market is no longer headed by South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk after the 400m champion struggled through his semi-final to qualify as the second fastest loser, behind Britain's Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake.

In the wake of his triumph over one lap on Tuesday night, Van Niekerk was odds-on at 4/7 to become the first man since Michael Johnson in 1995 to complete the 400m/200m double at a world championships but it looks like fatigue could well be taking its toll.

The 25-year-old, tipped to become the face of athletics following the retirement of Usain Bolt, is now 2/1.

The impressive Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago is now favourite at 11/8 but victory for Makwala at 100/30 would certainly make an incredible story after he was denied the chance to face van Niekerk in the 400m 24 hours earlier.

The 30-year-old, who was told he could not take up his place in the 400m final on medical grounds following illness, clocked 20.14 seconds to place second in the first semi-final heat in torrential rain at the London Stadium.

Makwala was an additional athlete in the semi-final heat, running in lane one - not normally used for the event due to the tightness of the bend - after qualifying via a time-trial earlier on Wednesday evening.

He had to clock 20.53 seconds or less to run again in the semi-finals and did so with ease, finishing in 20.20secs before celebrating by doing press-ups.

He qualified for Thursday's final behind the United States' Isiah Young, who won the semi-final in 20.19secs.

Makwala celebrated by raising his right arm aloft and Sky Bet now make him 2/1 for glory having initially re-introduced him into the betting at 9/2 ahead of his solo qualification run.

But the manner of his exclusion from Tuesday night's 400m final still rankles.

Makwala told the BBC: "Yes, I'm running with anger. I still want my 400. That's my race.

"I'm still running heartbroken. I wish the IAAF had taken the decision for me to run my 400 first, alone. I was ready to run the 400 alone. Then I could run the 200.

"I don't know who took the decision for me not to run my final 400 - 400 is the race that I'm training for. The 200 I race sometimes.

"I wish to thank the IAAF for giving me another chance and the crowd is so amazing. They made me believe. I just want to thank this crowd. It's so amazing."

Mitchell-Blake finished third in 20.19 and qualifies as a fastest loser but he's 25/1 for unlikely glory.

The anticipated duel with Wayde van Niekerk will now take place over half the anticipated distance.

Van Niekerk, the Olympic 400m champion, received his world 400m gold just a few minutes after Makwala's time-trial.

And the hanging around may have contributed to his performance as he squeezed through to the 200m final as the second of two fastest losers in 20.28.

Illness has affected numerous World Championships contenders and Makwala had been given medical dispensation to withdraw from the 200m heats on Monday night.

Without a valid reason for pulling out, he could have been disqualified from the 400m final - an event he was forced to miss under protocols imposed by Public Health England.

His 48-hour quarantine expired at 1400BST on Wednesday afternoon and the IAAF accepted a request from Botswana to allow Makwala to try to qualify for the shorter event.

That suggested a softening in relations between Botswana and athletics' world governing body after a strained 24 hours.

Video footage on Tuesday night showed Makwala was prevented from entering the warm-up track and Botswanan officials criticised the IAAF for its heavy-handedness and lack of communication over cases of norovirus which have struck at the championships.

The IAAF had earlier been forced into a further rebuttal to claims from Makwala that "sabotage" led to his exclusion from the 400m final.

Makwala told ITV on Tuesday night "maybe this is sabotage" and told the BBC on Wednesday "there's something fishy they don't want to tell us".

However, the IAAF dismissed his allegations as "absurd".

An IAAF spokesperson said in a statement to Press Association Sport: "There is nothing we want more than extraordinary competition at these championships.

"We freed up the competition schedule here to allow this to happen between these two athletes over 200m and 400m. To suggest otherwise is absurd."

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