NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 8 – After winning her first-ever Diamond League trophy in Zurich on Thursday, Commonwealth Games 800m champion Mary Moraa took some time out to cheer on World and Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Korir.
Moraa said it was only natural for her to offer support to her fellow countryman, noting that the two have a rich history of training together.
“After I finished, I was watching my team mate Korir winning the men´s 800m and that was awesome. We are team mates since we were 18 and we sometimes train together so I was happy for him to win right after me,” Moraa said.
The World 800m bronze medalist clocked 1:57.63 to cut the tape in the women’s 800m as Jamaican Natoya Goule and American Sage Hurta came second and third in 1:57.85 and 1:58.47 respectively.
Moraa notched her first-ever Diamond League win in June in Rabat, Morocco before finishing fourth in Rome.
She, however, bounced back impressively at the next leg in Stockholm, Sweden where she clocked 1:57.68 to take top honour.
After a slow start to the year, the national 400m and 800m record holder has recovered impressively and will look to the bronze earned in Oregon, gold in Birmingham and the Diamond League as evidence of her best season yet.
Moraa, who only just transitioned to 800m last year (having specialised in 400m previously), said she wants to pick up next year from where she has left in 2022.
“I am happy for my first diamond trophy, I am happy for my country, I am happy for my fans all over the world. Now, the season is over for me and will have like 3-4 weeks off. Then I start my program for the next season and I will continue with the 800m. I just know I have to improve my speed, I need to work on the 400m,” she said.
–Rich minefield–
Indeed, the 800m has given Team Kenya a reason to smile this year considering the achievements of Moraa and Korir in their respective divisions.
Korir timed a world lead of 1:43.26 to clinch a second Diamond League trophy in the men’s division as Canadian Marco Arop (1:43.38) and World 1500m champion Jake Wightman (1:44.10) of Great Britain finished in second and third respectively.
Despite the win, the US-based Kenyan admitted he had had to sweat a bit more than usual to get his victory.
“The last few metres were very tough. I never expected to be be this tough, but I did it. I was still behind in the last 200 metres – maybe the first 600 were a bit too slow – so I had to push it hoping I could finish second or third. I managed to come first in the end though,” he said.
Winning the Diamond League trophy is the icing on the cake of what has been a plentiful harvest for Korir after his world title win in Oregon and a third-place finish at the penultimate leg of the Diamond League in Brussels, Belgium.
He credited his achievements thus far to hard work in training.
“This is the result of hard work and a lot of training. You know, I was a bit behind today, but I did not give up – I will always do my best, and now I have the Diamond League trophy,” Korir, who trains under legendary Kenyan runner Paul Ereng, said.
Korir also earned Kenya’s first gold at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, leading a 1-2 Kenyan finish with silver medalist Ferguson Rotich.
