World champ Moraa gears up for Grand Slam Track series
Kenya's Mary Moraa celebrates winning the women's 800m final at Brussels Diamond League in King Baudouin Stadium on September 13, 2024.
What you need to know:
- Moraa has signed up for both the 800m and 1,500m events in the high-stakes series, which offers a potential total payout of Sh52 million for athletes who win all four Slams in their category.
- Each event winner will take home Sh13 million, with prize money trickling down to the top eight, where the eighth-place finisher will still earn Sh1.3 million.
World 800m champion Mary Moraa has adjusted her training programme to prepare for the demanding inaugural 2025 Grand Slam Track series, set to begin this Friday at Independence Park in Kingston, Jamaica.
Despite the new challenge, Moraa’s ultimate goal remains defending her world title and etching her name in history as only the third woman to achieve back-to-back 800m world championships.
If successful, she will join Mozambique’s Maria Mutola, who won in 2001 (Edmonton) and 2003 (Saint-Denis), and South Africa’s Caster Semenya, who triumphed in 2009 (Berlin) and 2011 (Daegu).
The 2025 World Athletics Championships are scheduled to take place from September 13 to 21 in Tokyo, Japan.
Moraa’s coach, Alex Sang, revealed that the athlete will only compete in select Diamond League races to accumulate enough points for the final but will, for the first time, skip Kenya’s Kip Keino Classic.
Sang explained that the intensity of the Grand Slam Track series has required them to modify both her training and competition schedule.
Moraa has signed up for both the 800m and 1,500m events in the high-stakes series, which offers a potential total payout of Sh52 million for athletes who win all four Slams in their category.
Each event winner will take home Sh13 million, with prize money trickling down to the top eight, where the eighth-place finisher will still earn Sh1.3 million.
Besides Moraa, top athletes confirmed for the 800m and 1,500m races include Nikki Hiltz (USA), Jess Hull (Australia), and Diribe Welteji (Ethiopia). Moraa, 24, was scheduled to depart for Kingston Monday night.
The Grand Slam Track is a newly established professional track and field league, spearheaded by former four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson. The series will kick off in Jamaica, followed by three legs in the United States.
Sang explained that they began training in late December, focusing heavily on endurance rather than speed.
“We were doing more of 400m and 800m, but I altered the training for 800m and 1,000m,” he said on Monday.
Moraa will participate in just two Diamond League races to qualify for the Diamond League Final, set for August 27-28 in Zurich, Switzerland.
“Our plan is to balance the Grand Slam and the Diamond League, but our primary focus is on the Grand Slam. That’s why we have increased our endurance training while keeping our eyes on Tokyo as well,” Sang noted.
Moraa will also be aiming to improve her personal best of 1:56.03, set when she clinched the world title in Budapest, Hungary, in 2023. Other Kenyans set to compete in the series are World 10km record holder Agnes Jebet Ngetich and Ronald Kwemoi.
“After the Grand Slam, we will have two more months to prepare for the World Championships, allowing for additional Diamond League races,” Sang added.
Following the Grand Slam, Moraa will remain in the United States to compete at the Prefontaine Classic on July 5 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. In last year’s edition, she clocked 1:56.71, finishing second behind Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, who won in 1:55.78.
At the Paris Olympics, Moraa secured her maiden Olympic medal, claiming bronze in 1:57.42 behind gold medalist Hodgkinson (1:56.72) and silver medalist Tsige Duguma (1:57.15) of Ethiopia. Reflecting on her performance in Paris, she admitted struggling to adapt to the conditions.
“I was in top shape, but crazy things can happen. I can’t tell if it was anxiety or something else, but my body just wouldn’t move no matter how hard I pushed,” Moraa explained.
She, however, bounced back in style, reclaiming the Diamond League Trophy in Brussels with a time of 1:56.56.
Now, Moraa is embracing the challenge of running the 1,500m alongside her signature event.
“Training for 1,500m has been tricky, but I have managed. I am good to go, and my fans should expect great results,” she said confidently.
As the second Kenyan woman to win a world 800m title, following Janeth Jepkosgei (2007 Osaka) and Eunice Sum (2013 Moscow), Moraa is determined to leave her mark in Tokyo and beyond.