Moraa targeting 800m qualification to Tokyo Games

National 400m champion who is also a world Under-18 silver medalist Mary Moraa has shifted her focus to qualifying for the upcoming Olympics Games, only this time she is targeting the 2-lap race, 800m. 

The National Police Service (NPS) runners says she has a better chance at attending her first Olympics this year if she switches from 400m to 800m adding that her future lies with the latter rather than her current speciality. 

"I have shifted my focus to hitting the 800m qualifying mark for Olympics. I know I can get one or two races abroad which will help me achieve the set mark. I will go for a 1:58 which is possible given that my personal best in the distance is currently at 2:03," Moraa told Golazo Kenya. 

"I know I have a bright future in 800m than in the one-lap race. I am confident I can make it with the necessary support. I am hoping to compete in a few races and try to qualify for Olympics," she added. 

Moraa is coming off what was probably the worst outing for her at the World Relays in Silesia, Poland. Making her maiden 4x400m women and mixed Relays with the senior team, she had a good race in the women's event but faltered in the mixed event. Her baton exchange with the anchor leg, Aron Koech, turned disastrous after she missed her step and fell, the baton flying off her hand and rolling three lanes away, leading to the team's disqualification. 

"I had not trained well enough going to the championship. I joined the team late. I had done my speed work to the standards I had anticipated. However, by the time I was getting to hand over, I was out of gas, something my teammate failed to notice, maybe because we had not trained as a team long enough," explained Moraa.