Early on Saturday morning, Kenya’s Mary Moraa sailed into the women’s 800 meter final of the World Championships in Oregon22.
American Ajee Wilson finished in second place in 1:59.97 to earn the second automatic spot in the final. Moraa won the first semi-final in 1:59.65 after taking the lead from the gun to the tape.
The second heat was won by English teenager Keely Hodgkinson, who finished in a blistering 1:58.73, ahead of veteran Jamaican Natoya Goule, and by American Raevyn Rodgers, who finished third and earned one of the two non-automatic qualifying spots.
Naomi Korir finished third in the third semifinal in 2:03.08 seconds, missing out on the final. Athing Mu of the United States won the heat in 1:57.12 to qualify alongside Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji (1:57.16) and Anita Horvat (1:59.60).
Moraa will be hoping to finish on the podium in the final on Monday morning after Kenya failed to win a medal at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, where Eunice Sum finished fifth.
Moraa has nine sub-two minute times, including a personal best of one minute and 57.45 seconds set at the Kenyan trials on June 24, just a few days after winning her first Diamond League in Rabat in 1:58.93 on June 5. On June 9, she finished fourth in 1:59.26 at the Rome Diamond League.
Jarinta Mawia of Kenya exited the championships after finishing fifth in the heats in 2:02.35.
Kenya has only won two gold medals in the women’s 800 meters since the championships began in 1983, with Janeth Jepkosgei in Osaka in 2007 and Eunice Sum in Moscow in 2013.
Kenya also has two silver medals from the 2009 Berlin and 2011 Daegu games through Jepkosgei, while Sum settled for bronze in 2015 Beijing.
