Lone ranger Moraa unfazed by 800m opponents in semis
Kenya's Mary Moraa crosses the finish line ahead of Canada's Jazz Shukla and Slovakia's Gabriela Gajanova in the women's 800m heats during the World Athletics Championships at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on August 23, 2023.
What you need to know:
- World 800m silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain will compete in the first semi-final heat alongside Benin’s Yarigo, and Ethiopia’s Worknesh Mesele.
- The first two athletes from each of the three heats will qualify for the final alongside the two fastest third-placed finishers.
In Budapest
Commonwealth Games 800 metres champion, Mary Moraa, may be Kenya’s only representative in the semifinal races of the two-lap competition that will be staged Friday night from 9.25pm at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, but the 23-year-old is not one to be bogged down on the big stage.
She has vowed to fight tooth and nail to reach the final.
And the enormity of the task ahead is not lost in Moraa, who claimed bronze medal at last year’s edition held in Oregon.
“Very small things will make a difference in the race. Everyone who qualified for the semi-finals has trained well, and is enjoying good shape at this stage, so it will be about who takes the chances that come their way. We are all seeking to be in the final, and I will fight tooth and nail to achieve that,” she told Nation Sport in Budapest.
Moraa won the second heat in one minute and 59.89 seconds on Tuesday to qualify for the semis ahead of American runner Raevyn Rogers who timed 2:00.06.
Moraa was the only Kenyan athlete to qualify for the semi-finals after her fellow countrywomen, Naomi Korir and Vivian Chebet, fell at the first hurdle.
Chebet finished fourth in 2:01.26 to miss out on automatic qualification from the first heat won by world 800m silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain in 1:59.53, followed by South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso (1:59.72).
Korir finished seventh in the third heat, well outside the qualification places, in a heat won by Benin’s Noelie Yarigo (1:59.96). The fourth Kenyan in the race, Peninah Mutisya, failed to start on a technicality.
The absence of the other Kenyan athletes obviously robs Moraa of the necessary teamwork, but she has unfazed.
Moraa will compete in the third semi-final heat from 9.45pm alongside 2019 world champion Halima Naakayi from Uganda, reigning champion Athing Mu of USA, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Abbey Caldwell of Australia, and South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso.
World 800m silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain will compete in the first semi-final heat alongside Benin’s Yarigo, and Ethiopia’s Worknesh Mesele.
The first two athletes from each of the three heats will qualify for the final alongside the two fastest third-placed finishers.
