Mary Moraa was in a jubilant and thankful mood as she stormed to victory in the women’s 800 metres on the final day of the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Kenyan won bronze at last year’s championships in Eugene and was favourite heading into the 2023 event after finishing on top at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the 2022 Diamond League in Zurich.
The 23-year-old lived up to those expectations by finishing with a person best of 1 minute, 56.03 seconds ahead of Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson and American-South Sudanese Athing Mu.
Dancing queen ???? 800m queen
????????'s Mary Moraa literally flies to golden 800m glory after two crazy laps around the track ????
1:56.03 PB, how about that ????#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/yfL2IF6yUr
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 27, 2023
“I am so happy for the race, and I am happy for the win. I am happy for everything that God has done to me,” Moraa said.
“I think my target was to finish on the podium and to get better, but God wanted me to win the gold, and I am happy for everything.
“I think everybody from Kenya, the coaches, my fellow colleagues encourage me since yesterday that I was going to get a medal but we could not predict which medal. I am happy for everything.”
In other results from Sunday, Kenyan-born Bahraini Winfred Yavi won gold in the women’s 3000 metres steeplechase ahead of Kenyan duo Beatrice Chepkoech and Faith Cherotich while in the men’s 5000 metres, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen defended his title by finishing ahead of Moroccan-born Spaniard Mohamed Katir and Kenyan Jacob Krop.
????????'s @WinfredYavi is your 3000m steeplechase world champion after a lightning fast last lap ????
8:54.29 world lead, take a bow.#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/yk1v4rAYr4
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 27, 2023
In the men’s 4×400 metres relay, the United States were victorious once again by winning the gold medal while France took silver and Great Britain bronze. In the women’s category, it was an incredible comeback from 400 metres hurdles champion Femke Bol as she recovered after a fall to help the Netherlands to the gold medal ahead of Jamaica and Britain.
From the depths of hell ????
Femke Bol brings home the gold for the Netherlands in the women's 4x400m final with an incredible comeback ????
3:20.72 world lead FTW #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/A9gftqm2sF
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 27, 2023
The first event of the final day saw Uganda’s Victor Kiplangat win the 42km Marathon ahead of Ethiopian-born Israeli Maru Teferi and Ethiopia’s Leul Gebresilase. In the field events, India’s Neeraj Chopra was victorious in the final of the men’s javelin throw while Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh won in the women’s high jump final for the country’s first-ever championship gold medal.
