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S. GitahiBudapest 23: Moraa breezes into 800m semis, sets up Mu showdown
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Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 23.08.23. | 15:08
The other Kenyans - Naomi Korir and Vivian Chebet failed to make it through after finishing fourth and seventh in their respective heats
Commonwealth Games champion over 800m Mary Moraa secured passage into the women’s two-lap event semifinals after topping her heat on Wednesday morning at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary.
The Kenyan champion produced a decent gun to tape performance, controlling the pace, to eventually holding out the rest of the chasing pack in a winning Heat 2 time of 1:59.89.
Mary Moraa 🇰🇪 won the second heat of the women's 800m at the World Championships in 1:59.89, ahead of Raevyn Rogers 🇺🇸 in 2:00.06. Worknesh Mesele 🇪🇹 did enough to get through in 3rd with 2:00.13. pic.twitter.com/L8UrwjoIIe
— Track & Field Gazette (@trackgazette) August 23, 2023
Raevyn Rogers of USA came second in 2:00.06 with Ethiopia’s Worknesh Mesele closing out the top three automatic qualifier slots clocking 2:00.13.
Fate was however different for her countrymates as the pair of Vivian Chebet and Naomi Korir failed to gain passage into Friday’s semifinals, finishing fourth and seventh in times of 2:01.26 and 2:01.41 respectively.
Chebet did spend some time in the q room but her time wasn’t the fastest of the three non-automatic qualifiers, ending her journey in the championships.
In other notable results in the heats, Olympic silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson also smoothly transitioned to the semis after registering a win in the first heat with a time of 1:59.53.
South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso was second in the heat, clocking in at 1:59.72.
Race favorite Athing Mu (USA) made a statement appearance in the event she had earlier been rumored to be skipping, hitting Heat Seven in 1:59.59, and ahead of Jamaica’s Natoya Goule-Toppin, who finished a close second at 1:59.64.
Athing Mu is definitely in Budapest, and she CRUISES through to the semis at 1:59.59.
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) August 23, 2023
Joining her are Americans Nia Akins -- the fastest qualifier at 1:59.19 -- and Raevyn Rogers.
Current world leader Keely Hodgkinson also easily moves on #WorldAthleticsChamps
📸 Getty Images pic.twitter.com/UffOYlGDWU
The results now pave the way for what will be an interesting matchup between Mu and Moraa, as the two have been pooled together in Heat 3 of Friday night’s semifinals set to gun off at 2145 EAT.
Joining them will be Ugandan World Indoor games bronze medalist and World Champion Halima Nakaayi, with Hodgkinson and Toppin falling in Heat 1 and 2 respectively.
Only the top two athletes in each heat will make it into the final, with the fastest two non-automatic qualifiers also bagging a spot for Sunday’s finale set for 2045 EAT.
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