6. Mary Moraa
Kenyan athlete Mary Moraa has made tremendous progress in the middle distance for an athlete that only began to transition from the 400m to the 800m in 2020 and has achieved much more in the 800m than the 400m which she had specialised in for about four years.
Moraa’s first global competition over the 800m was the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 where she exited the competition in the semis after placing 3rd in her race. She thereafter competed in the Wanda Diamond League final in Brussels where she finished 8th, then won the Kip Keino Classic in 2:00.11.
Greater things were in store for Moraa in 2022 as she steadily improved on her times. Her first major competition of the year was the Kip Keino Classic where she placed 2nd in 1:59.87 behind Prudence Sekgodiso. She then made her first Diamond League appearance of the year in Rabat where she clocked a new lifetime best of 1:58.93 to dominate the women’s 800m, securing a revenge over Sekgodiso who settled for 2nd, and Renelle Lamote, 3rd.
She moved to the Golden Gala in Rome and placed 4th in 1:59.26, then secured her second Diamond League victory of the season, winning her event in Stockholm in 1:57.68, having set a new lifetime best of 1:57.45 a week earlier at the Kenyan Trials to show her preparedness for the World Championships.
Making her second appearance at the World Championships and first over the 800m, Moraa had a bright start to her Oregon campaign, finishing 2nd to Natoya Goule in her heat with a clocking of 2:00.42. She made a statement in the semis by beating former World Champion Ajee Wilson to win her heat and secure a spot in the final. The 2019 African U20 400m Champion went all out in the final, smashing her PB to clinch a Bronze medal behind USA’s Athing Mu and Keely Hodgkinson with an impressive time of 1:56.71, her first global medal at senior level.
This set the stage for the Commonwealth Games and Moraa made sure she delivered for Kenya, stunning home favourite Hodgkinson and Laura Muir to win her first ever Commonwealth Games GOLD medal. Not done with making a statement, Moraa capped off her superlative season by winning the Diamond League trophy in Zurich in 1:57.63. She will be hoping to build on the successes of 2022 ahead of the 2023 season.
