Mary Moraa (R) with Fabio Iavarone, Sports Direct Africa Lead/ HANDOUT The 2023 world 800m champion Mary Moraa is not intimidated by the blistering times redefining the women’s two-lap event as she targets a strong return at the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
Moraa missed the major championships of the 2026 season after an illness and injury-hit campaign, but is now back in full training and ready to rebuild her competitive form.
“Since last year, after the World Championships in Tokyo, I fell sick. I came back home and continued getting treatment until June, when the doctors gave me a clean bill of health,” she said.
“I started my training from there, and currently I feel that my body is in great shape.”
Her return comes as the women’s 800m enters one of its fastest periods, with 12 athletes having broken 1:57 this year.
Switzerland’s Audrey Werro has emerged as the leading force, running a world-leading 1:53.70 at the Zurich Diamond League in August. The mark is third on the all-time list behind Nadezhda Olizarenko’s 1:53.43 and Jarmila Kratochvilova’s world record of 1:53.28.
Moraa, however, believes times mean little once the athletes line up for a major championship.
“All of us, when we are at the start line, are women, so anything can happen,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re in a lineup with an athlete who has run 1:53 and someone like me has run 1:58 or 1:57. Anything can happen; I can even beat them.”
The Kenyan says her enforced break has also renewed her appreciation for competition.
“I’m very happy to be back. I have missed competing, I have missed the atmosphere and, most importantly, I have missed representing Kenya,” she said.
“The journey back has not been easy, but it has made me appreciate the sport even more. I have learnt to be patient, to trust the process and to keep working even when nobody is watching.”
Moraa has already set her sights on Beijing, where she hopes to reclaim the world title she won in Budapest in 2023.
“Beijing is a big goal. We are expecting great things to come. But first I want to enjoy being back on the track, get back into competitive shape and take the journey one race at a time," she said.
Moraa was speaking during the official launch of Sports Direct, one of the world's leading sporting good retail stores, which has opened its first Kenyan stores at Sarit Centre in Westlands, Nairobi.
Moraa believes the arrival of the global sports retailer can help inspire young Kenyan athletes.
“Every great athlete starts somewhere. Sometimes it starts with something very simple, a pair of running shoes, a football, a jersey, a local field… and a dream.”
