Mary Moraa at the Paris Olympics (C) NOCK
After flawless qualifications to the semifinals by Kenya's representatives in the men's 1 500 metres and the women's 5 000 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the women's 800 metres heats served a mixed bag as only reigning world champion Mary Moraa and 2024 African Athletics Championship silver medalist Lilian Odira made qualified to the semifinals automatically after finishing in the top three in their respective heat races ran at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris, on Friday night.
Mary Moraa, running in Heat Five, qualified after finising second with a time of 1:57.95. Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia overtook the Kenya in the last metre to win the race with a time of 1:57.90. Shafiqua Maloney of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines, was third after finishing the race with a national record time of 1:58.23.
Odira qualified for the semifinals after ranking third in Heat Six with a personal best time of 1:58.83. Natoya Goule-Toppin of Jamaica finished first in that heat with a time of 1:58.66. Claudia Hollingsworth of Australia clocked 1:58.77 to finish second.
Kenya's other representative in the event, Vivian Chebet, finished fifth in Heat Three with a time 1:59.90.
Her final position was despite her doing her best to keep up with the brutal pace set by the Ethiopian Worknesh Mesele who won the race with the night's fastest time, 1:58.07, which is a personal best for the 23-year old.
Chebet was in second place until the final 150 metres but her determination to catch up with Mesele, proved to be her undoing, as she faded to allow Rénelle Lamote of France (2nd, 1:58.59), Phoebe Gill of Great Britain (1:58.83), and Eloisa Coiro of Italy (1:59:19), to overtake her.
Heat Three was one of the night's fastest race as it saw five runners go under 2:00. Heat Five, Moraa's heat, also saw five athletes running sub 2:00 times. Odira's heat was the fastest with six athletes running under two minutes. Heat One was the slowest, as it was won by Jemma Rekkie of Great Britain with a time of 2:00:00. Heat Two, which had two sub 2:00 times, was won by the Cuban Daily Cooper Gaspard (1:58.88). Tokyo 2020 and Budapest 2023 silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain clocked 1:59.31 to win Heat Four, which had three sub 2:00 times.
Despite her disappointing finish, there is still hope for Chebet to make the semifinals if she wins her race in the repechage round or becomes one of the two athletes with two fastest times.
50 athletes qualified to compete in the women's 800 metres at this year's Olympic Games. In the heats, the 48 were split into six groups of eight. The top three finishers in each heat qualified for the semifinals automatically while the remaining athletes were relegated to contest races in the repechage round, a new qualification phase that World Athletics for all races between the 200 metres and the 1 500 metres, including hurdles, to ensure get a second chance to qualify for the semifinals.
The repechage rounds eliminate the need of athletes qualifying for the semifinals because they registered faster times and it also ensures that athletes run at least two races at the Olympic Games.
An athlete who did not qualify for the semifinals automatically can only contest a repechage round if they finished their race. Athletes who do not start or finish races, as well as those who get disqualified, are barred from running in repechage rounds.
In the women's 800 metres, Chebet will be one 31 athletes to appear in the repechage round which will be contested over four heats. The winner of each heat will qualify for the finals automatically. The remaining two slots will go to the two fastest finishers.
The repechage round for the women's 800 metres will take place on Saturday, August 3.
