Moraa happy to reclaim Diamond League title she lost in 2023

Mary Moraa needed to run a new 1:56.56 personal season’s best and fourth fastest time this year to reclaim the 800m Diamond League title she lost last year in Eugene, Oregon, USA to Athing Mu, the 2021 Olympic and 2022 World champion.

Moraa was fifth in the race that year after winning the two full laps race in 2022 at the Weltklasse in Zurich.

On a cold evening in Brussels, the Kenyan, without the challenge from Olympic champion, Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain and silver medalist, Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia, won ahead of Georgia Bell (1:57.50) and Natoya Goule-Toppin (1:58.94)

‘I’m so happy to get the trophy back after I lost it last year. It was a hard competition, so I’m proud of myself for getting the Diamond trophy back,’ said the Kenyan who received $30,000 in top prize money, a Diamond Trophy and a wild card to the 20th World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan next September.

Meanwhile, Bell acknowledges Moraa’s strength and was happy to still run 1:57 in September.

‘I tried to give myself the best shot of racing Mary, but you know she is finishing so strong. The track is so fast and I am happy that we are still running 1:57 this late in the season,’ she said while Jamaican, Goule-Toppin was also satisfied with her performance.

‘I think I ran a good race. I could probably run a bit faster, but it was just too cold. My season was a little bit in ups and downs, but overall, I’m really satisfied. In our event we are all friends, and we all look out for each other. That makes competing against each other so much fun,’ said the Jamaican record holder.