Mary Moraa - new 800m GOAT?

^ this

”GOAT” is overused. Many that use the term don’t realize what it means.

Once Moraa breaks the world record multiple times, wins a few Olympic gold medals and world championships, and perhaps a few Diamond League titles, we can revisit the talk of her being the GOAT.

How the hell is Hodgkinson stagnating? So far this year she has run PB both indoors and outdoors in the 800, a WR in the 600 indoors, and a a PB in the 400. And her outdoor season has only just begun.

She said before the race in Lausanne that time wasn't important, she wanted to try some tactics. She now has more info on a woman who will be her main competitor (along with Mu) in Budapest. She knows now it will need to be a harder race. Moraa still hasn't broken 1:57, both Mu and Hodgkinson are 1:55 women.

You do know what the acronym, G.O.AT, stands for, don't you?

GOAT? She has a bronze at worlds and is 2 years older than Mu. Please stop using GOAT as a synonym* for decent runner who won a race with no competition.

*a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language, for example shut is a synonym of close.

Mary Moraa doesn't have the fast times yet because she's relatively inexperienced as she recently moved up from the 400. But her coach says they hope to run sub-1:56 in Monaco.

nation.africa

Mary Moraa opts out of Florence, Paris Diamond League meets

Jelimo holds the national record time of 1:54.01 set in Zürich on August 29, 2008.

Link:nation.africa/kenya/sports/athletics/m...

I agree with everything here, except for Moraa not breaking 1:57. She ran 1:56 last season at Worlds when she took bronze (only half a second back from Mu and Keely). Otherwise, I totally agree. Not sure how people all of a sudden think Moraa is automatically the world #1 after winning one race where Keely had an off day. Obviously, if she ran 1:55 in her season debut, her running a 1:58 is clearly nothing more than an off day. It happens! Hodgkinson > Moraa

Clearly she has alot of potential. I think her weakest link is endurance at the moment. Her coach and team seem to be getting the strategy right though.Get her winning races.Cement the winning mentality because she is naturally a fighter she will fight hard to the finish line regardless of endurance issues.There is scope for improvement. I think those dismissing her are making a mistake.

Moraa is my new favourite W800m athlete. Very likeable Kenyan. Forget Mu, forget Hodgkinson, forget Goule, forget Wilson.

Moraa transitioned to the 800 metres in 2020, and represented Kenya at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021 competing in this event, where she was eliminated in the semi-finals with a time of 2:00.47.

Exactly that, nothing more, nothing less.

Undoubtedly, yes. Moraa has great 400 speed. Her PB is 50pt but she could probably go somewhat faster if it was her focus. She has too much left in some of those performances.
Keelys kryptonite at this point seems to be running others’ races instead of her own. She doesn’t have to be Nick Symmonds/Dave Wottle but getting sucked into sub-27 for the first 200 and then dealing with Moraa’s erratic pacing and excellent kick finish isn’t her game. I think her best move is run the first 400 patiently and more evenly behind Mu/Moraa. Be in striking position in there and trust yourself to make a big, decisive move at either 250-to-go or 150-to-go. No half measures, just surge hard and hold it.

*break the world record barefoot on a cinder track… then the term GOAT could be used

Thanks for reinforcing my point.

apologize sirs

still waiting...

I was right too about her coach getting her in sub 1:56 shape.

Moraa is a Kenyan, which means she comes from a country that narrowly escaped a ban from the sport last year. As we see, every Kenyan victory these days is subject to subsequent test results.

Mortimer & Randolph Duke last night told you smart money was on Mary Moraa.

I thought Moraa was going to win and almost started a thread but I did not want to antagonise the board re the Mu and Keely situation (!).

Mu had barely raced and there was obviously something else going on too (unhappiness). So full credit to her for turning up, getting through the rounds, running the semi and getting a medal in a World Championship final. I think we often forget how good that is. How many times has she raced in 2023/single events? I hope that she makes some changes because I (along with probably everyone on here) am not convinced that her current set-up is optimal for her personally.

Moraa's 400m PB is so significantly better than Keely's that she holds an advantage that currently (this year, not speculating on beyond) may be difficult to overcome. I think she could have run faster than she did quite easily. It was interesting to see her adopt new tactics! However, I do believe Keely can win and beat her in certain types of races. For me, the question is whether Moraa will allow those type of races to occur given her propensity for front running.

Nice article about Mary that the Olympic website updated yesterday to include her World Championship win:

olympics.com

Mary Moraa exclusive: Orphaned as a toddler, Kenya’s newly crowned 800m world champion won in mother's memory

@olympics

The Kenyan 800m world champion, who was left orphaned at two years old, shared her gruelling battle to survive with Olympics.com, and how adversity helped shape her running career and changed her life and those of her sibling...

Link:olympics.com/en/news/orphaned-as-a-tod...

Love her because of:

-her dancing

-she's gone from craycray to tactically aware in a very short time

-she set a PB in a World final!! hardly anyone seems to have mentioned this.