World Under-18 silver medalist and Africa U-20 400m champion Mary Moraa is happy with her transition from 400m to 800m.
“Moving from 400m to 800m has been seamless because even when I was running 400m, I used to do training for 800m,” said the former student at Mogonga PAG High School in Kisii County.
She added: “I’m following the footsteps of Hellen Obiri who was initially a sprinter but she is now a long-distance runner. I started with 100m and 200m then slowly moved 400m. Now I’m comfortable in 800m,” said the 19-year-old athlete.
Obiri, a double World champion and Olympic silver medalist, moved from sprints to middle distance and she is now a long-distance runner featuring in both 5, 000 and 10, 000m. “Obiri is my role model,” said Moraa who is fondly known as Kisii Express.
Moraa, who rose to fame during the World Under 18 held in Nairobi in 2017, where she clinched a silver medal has been training in Kaptagat but the camp has since been closed due to the current coronavirus scare.
“The coaches gave us a training program to follow when training on on our own,” she added.
Moraa made her 800m bow in Eldoret during the first Athletics Kenya (AK) track and field weekend meeting where she finished third in 2:05.2. She won the second meet in Nairobi in 2:01.1.
She said she was looking forward to the third meet in Meru and fourth in Bondo but they have been postponed indefinitely by AK due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the country.
Haron Onchonga, Moraa’s former principal and coach, has backed her to succeed in 400m. “She is hardworking and has what it takes to succeed. She is a medal prospect if she qualifies for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics,” said Onchong’a.
