Mary Moraa, Lilian Odira and Sarah Moraa Send Strong Message to Keely Hodgkinson as Kenya’s 800m Dream Stays Alive

Mary Moraa allayed any fears that she might not be in a position to defend her 800m world title when she made it to the final at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo on Friday.

Moraa took command of her semi-final heat, which she won, against a strong challenge from her rivals to send a message to her doubters that she will be among the contenders yet again.

The 2023 world champion won semi-final Heat 1 in 1:58.40 ahead of Great Britain’s Georgia Bell, who clocked 1:58.62, for second place and the final automatic qualification slot.

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Moraa waited for her moment, turning on the afterburners in the final lap and once she got her chest out, there was no catching her.

Meanwhile, Moraa was joined in the final by Kenyan compatriot Lilian Odira, who stormed to victory in semi-final Heat 2, when it had appeared like she would miss out on the top two positions.

Odira, who was left behind the rest heading into the second and final lap, summoned a great finishing kick to win the heat in 1:56.85, edging it just ahead of Audrey Werro of Switzerland, who clocked 1:56.99, ahead of Australian Jessica Hull, who timed 1:57.15, an area record, to sail through as one of the two best losers.

It was, however, disappointing for Olympics silver medalist and one of the favourites Tsige Duguma, who finished fifth, as well as Ugandan Halima Nakaayi, who was sixth.

In Heat 3, there was good news and then bad for Team Kenya as Sarah Moraa, who was reinstated into the semi-final following an appeal qualified for the final but then suffered an injury.

Moraa had been tripped in the heats on Thursday and missed out on an automatic ticket to the semis but an appeal from Team Kenya was successful.

That allowed her to feature in the semis and she made the best of it as she nearly won Heat 3, clocking a personal best 1:57.53, same as Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, but the Olympics champion was given the win.

However, there were concerns when Sarah Moraa fell to the track after the race with what appeared to be a hamstring injury and she was carried off in pain, leaving her participation in the final in doubt.

However, with Duguma and Nakaayi out, the Kenyan trio can feel confident of getting more than one medal from the race with Hodgkinson now seen as the biggest threat.