Champ Moraa upbeat ahead of Brussels run
Commonwealth Games 800m champion Mary Moraa is bubbly ahead of competing in her first race since her triumph at the Alexander Stadium in, Birmingham, England last month.
The 22-year-old will line up at the Brussels leg of the Diamond League tonight when she will be scaling down to the one-lap competition, a race that made her.
Moraa, the national 400m record holder, is excited about the race which is among other reasons that it has been organised by her management Golazo.
“Memorial van Damme leg is our competition, so I am proud to be part of it,” said Moraa currently placed 26th in the world this season with a time of 50.84 seconds.
Moraa said she will be using the competition for speed work ahead of the 800m race during the Diamond League final on September 7 and 8 in Switzerland.
“I have just resumed my training after the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The 400m race is just to open up my body for speed purposes,” said Moraa.
Moraa clocked her personal best of 50.84 sec when she won the 400m during the trials for the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games on June 25 at the Moi International ports Centre, Kasarani. She thinks she can lower that time before the end of the season.
With the best time of 1:56.71, she set to claim bronze at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, United States, Moraa wants to run faster and more calculative.
“You see the focus is on Zurich and all my opponents are back in training, focusing on the final. It calls for hard work,” she added.
Expect more
Moraa explained that her coach Alex Sang told her not to worry much about Oregon where he set her the target of reaching the final and perhaps clocking a sub 1:57.
“I told him to expect more and it worked,” noted Moraa, adding that it was after the nationals in April that her body started to respond well owing to the elaborate plan they had crafted with Sang.
“That is why when I dropped behind after the bell during the final, a lot went through my mind. I really didn’t want to let my coach down especially when the whole nation was watching me. I had to push,” said Moraa while reflecting on her glory in Birmingham.
She paid glowing tribute to double World 5,000m champion Hellen Obiri and 2007 World 800m champion Janeth Jepkosgei for their mentorship and advice.
Meanwhile, World 3000m steeplechase record holder Beatrice Chepkoech is set to compete at the Brussels Leg of the Diamond League tonight.
The Brussels meeting is the 12th and final leg of the 2022 Diamond League series ahead of the finals slated for September 7-8 in Zurich, Switzerland.
Chepkoech has been out of action due to an injury that saw her relinquish her world title after pulling out of the World Championships in Oregon last month.
