Reigning women's 800 metres world champion Mary Moraa will have to do it all alone in the event's final on Monday night after her compatriots, Lilian Odira and Vivian Chebet, failed to qualify for the final.
Moraa, running in the first semifinal, comfortably won her race with a time of 1:57.86.
However, Chebet and Odira, were not successful in emulating her, finishing 8th and 4th in the second and third semifinals with times of 1:58.53 and 1:59.64 respectively.
While Chebet had an awful night, coming a day after narrowly qualifying for the semifinal after registering fastest time among finishers who did not win their repechage rounds, Odira seemed more determined to make the final but unfortunately, despite her best efforts, her time was not good enough to take her through as one of the two finishers with the best times despite not ranking in the top two positions of their respective races.
Moraa, on the other hand, was superb, dominating her race as she did in the heat. After the bell, Moraa did not waste times surging ahead and until the final 600 metres, wisely conserved her energy for the final sprint by not opening a huge margin.
Her tactics worked well and in the final 200 metres, Moraa broke her away and sprinted to a comfortable win, clocking 1:57.86. Worknesh Mesele of Ethiopia joined her in the final after finishing second with a time of 1:58.06.
In the second semifinal, Vivian Chebet's performance, yet again, was underwhelming, finishing last in a fast race in which the all the top four finishers qualified for the final.
Chebet faded very early and was no match for the rest as the Ethiopian Tsige Duguma won the race with a time of 1:57.47, a personal best. Shafiqua Maloney of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines clocked 1:57.69 to finish second, setting a national record. Juliette Whittaker of the USA also registered a personal best, finishing third with a time of 1:57.76, faster than any athlete who did not rank in the top two in the other semifinals. The host nation's Rénelle Lamote, who finished fourth, also registered a time, 1:57.78, that was good enough to rank in the top two among athletes who did not rank first or second in their races.
In Odira's semifinal, the Kenyan's failure not to surge forward after the bell ended up playing to her disadvantage. Odira was boxed in the inside lane and by the time she broke free, it was too little too late and her effort was only good enough for fourth place with a time of 1:58.53.
Keely Hodgkinson of the Great Britain won that race with the night's fastest time, 1:56.86. Prudence Sekgodiso of South Africa finished second with a time of 1:57.57. The American Nia Akins clocked 1:58.20 finish third.
In men's 1 500 metres, Brian Komen and veteran Timothy Cheruiyot qualified for the final after finishing fourth and fifth in Semifinal One and Semifinal Two respectively with times of 3:32.57 and 3:32.30 respectively.
Reynold Kipkorir, the youngest of the trio at 20 years of age, was unfortunate, finishing 10th in the first semifinal with a time 3:35.52.
The top six finishers in each semifinals made it to the final, the rest were eliminated.
Komen and Cheruiyot had to labour hard for their places in the final, particularly the latter who only qualified after an inspired surge in the last 50 metres of the races.
Despite qualifying, Cheruiyot and Komen will have to up their game in the final which takes place on Tuesday night.
