Mary Moraa

Mary Moraa (born 15 June 2000)[1] is a Kenyan athlete who specialises in the 800 metres. She won the gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, a bronze medal in the event at the 2022 World Athletics Championships and a gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Mary Moraa
Moraa at the 2021 Memorial Van Damme in Brussels
Personal information
NationalityKenyan
Born (2000-06-15) 15 June 2000
Sport
CountryKenya
SportAthletics
Event(s)400 metres, 800 metres
Coached byAlex Sang
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking1st (800 m, 2023)
Personal best(s)
  • 800 m: 1:56.03 (2023)
  • 400 m: 50.44 NR (2023)
  • Indoors
  • 800 m: 2:00.61i (2023)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Kenya
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2023 Budapest800 m
Bronze medal – third place2022 Eugene800 m
Diamond League
First place2022800 m
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place2022 Birmingham800 m
African U20 Championships
Gold medal – first place2019 Abidjan400 m
World Youth Championships
Silver medal – second place2017 Nairobi400 m

Moraa is the Kenyan record holder for the 400 metres. She was the 2022 Diamond League 800 m champion.

Background

Moraa was orphaned at age 2 after the death of her father and then her mother. She grew up with her grandparents, in Kisii in western Kenya. She won an education bursary through running.[2]

Career

Mary Moraa specialized in the 400 metres distance until 2021. She made her international debut at the World Under-18 Championships in Nairobi and won the silver medal in the event with a personal best time of 53.31 seconds.[1] The following year, the 18-year-old placed fifth over the same distance at the World U20 Championships held in Tampere, Finland, clocking new best of 52.85 s in the heats.[1]

In 2019, she won in the 400 m the African U20 title, Kenyan senior title, and placed fourth at the African Games held in Rabat, Morocco.[1] She reached the semi-finals in her individual event at the Doha World Championships.[1] Her season's best was 51.75 s.[1] She made her debut in the 800 metres that year.[3]

Moraa transitioned to the 800 metres in 2020, and represented Kenya at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021 competing in the event, where she was eliminated in the semi-finals with a time of 2:00.47.[1][4]

In July 2022, Moraa won the bronze medal in the 800 m at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, clocking a personal best of 1:56.71 behind Athing Mu (1:56.30) and Keely Hodgkinson (1:56.38).[5] The following month, she won a gold in the event at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games after storming through to beat Hodgkinson in the final.[6] She went from first to last and back to first in that race.[7] In September, Moraa became the Diamond League 800 m champion after she won final in Zürich.

Achievements

Personal bests

International competitions

Representing  Kenya
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventTime
2017 World U18 Championships Nairobi, Kenya 22nd (h) 200 m 25.48
2nd 400 m 53.31 PB
4th 4 × 400 m mixed 3:24.92
2018 World U20 Championships Tampere, Finland 5th 400 m 52.94
2019 African U20 Championships Abidjan, Ivory Coast 1st 400 m 53.57
African Games Abidjan, Ivory Coast 4th 400 m 51.97
4th 4 × 400 m relay 3:32.93
World Championships Doha, Qatar 18th (sf) 400 m 52.11
11th (h) 4 × 400 m mixed 3:17.09
2021 World Relays Chorzów, Poland 13th (h) 4 × 400 m relay 3:39.34 SB
4 × 400 m mixed DQ
Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 15th (sf) 800 m 2:00.47
2022 World Championships Eugene, OR, United States 3rd 800 m 1:56.71

PB

Commonwealth Games Birmingham, United Kingdom 29th (h) 400 m 59.51
1st 800 m 1:57.07
5th 4 × 400 m relay 3:32.28
2023 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 1st 800 m 1:56.03 SB

Circuit wins and titles, National titles

800 metres wins, other events specified in parentheses

References

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