Paris Olympics: Mary Moraa facing herculean task in quest for Games medal
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Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 28.07.24. | 07:39
She made it to the semis in Tokyo but 'Kisii Express' is looking to go the distance in France
Mary Moraa has her work cut out as she lines up against a star-studded field and looks to make a mark at the Summer Games, having fallen in the semis at the Tokyo Games.
Competing in the 400m and 800m, the World Athletics Champion is a force in the latter where she has been fighting for glory against reigning Olympic champion Athing Mu, and European champion Keely Hodgkinson. Mu missed out on qualification.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games winner, born in Kisii and raised by her grandparents following the loss of her parents at a very young age, came to the limelight at the World U18 Athletics in 2017, competing in the 400m for silver and 4x400m relay.
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The following year, at the age of 18, placed fifth over the same distance at the World U20 Championships held in Tampere, Finland.
In 2019, she won the 400m at the African U20 title, the Kenyan senior title, and placed fourth at the African Games held in Rabat, Morocco. She also made her debut at the World Championships in Doha, competing in 400m.
Transitioning to 800m at the height of COVID-19 in 2020, Moraa made it to the Tokyo Games held the following year, reaching the semis.
In 2022, she lined up for the World Championships, winning bronze, before heading to Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games where she bagged her first major championship gold.
In September, Moraa became the Diamond League 800m champion after she won the final in Zürich.
In 2023, she made up for her shortcomings in Oregon, clinching the World 800m title in Budapest.
Moraa heads to Paris having raced just twice outside of Kenya this year. She won in Doha (1:57.91) and then finished second behind Hodgkinson in Eugene two weeks later.
Her only 800m race since then was a runner-up finish at the Kenyan Trials in mid-June.
Hodgkinson, meanwhile, has been in sensational form. She started her season with a 1:55.78 win in Eugene, then she retained her European title in Rome.
A few weeks later, she won by more than a second at the FBK Games in Hengelo, then in her final race before heading to Paris she smashed her British record with a 1:54.61 victory at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in London, moving her to sixth on the world all-time list.
Teammate Jemma Reekie was second in that London race with a PB of 1:55.61, putting her second on this year’s world list.
The world indoor silver medalist was fourth in Tokyo three years ago and will be keen to make it onto the podium this time.
The British team is completed by 17-year-old Phoebe Gill, who beat Reekie to the national title and set a PB of 1:57.86 earlier this year.
South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso has shown herself to be a smart racer this season, winning all of her races between March and May, topped by a PB of 1:57.26 to win in Marrakech.
Her only loss came at the hands of Hodgkinson in Hengelo.
Other competitors include Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma, former world champion Halimah Nakaayi, Natoya Goule, and three-time European silver medalist Renelle Lamote.
In the absence of Mu, the US team will be led by world finalist Nia Akins, who set a PB of 1:57.36 to win the US Trials.
The Olympics will be her first race outside the US this year. She’s joined in the US squad by Allie Wilson and Juliette Whittaker.
