Eugene — An emotional Mary Moraa has dedicated her maiden World Championships medal to orphans in her Obwari village, Nyamira County.
Moraa, who was the lone Kenyan in the final, wrapped up Kenya's campaign in Eugene, Oregon championships with a bronze, her first medal since graduating to the seniors.
The 22-year-old did it in superb fashion, setting a new Personal best time of 1:56.71, clocking a lifetime best for the second time in less than a month, having done so during the National Trials last month.
The race was won by American Athing Mu, who clocked a World Leading time of 1:56.30 while Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain bagged silver after returning a season's best time of 1:56.38.
"I dedicate this bronze to all the orphans from my village in Obwari, I have been without parents since 2002, so this is for them," a tearful Moraa said.
Moraa, who has had a phenomenal season after winning her first Diamond League in Rabat, Morocco before taking the Stockholm leg, called on Team Kenya to embrace team work if the women's 800m is to come back to the country.
"I am happy with my performance because I was competing alone as Team Kenya. It was a tough race, the competition was hard. I did a lot of training this season, I thank my coach and my predecessors Janeth Jepkosgei, Pamela Jelimo and Eunice Sum for the advices," Moraa outlined.
"When we train hard and work as a team, we will close the gap and bring the medal back to Kenya, but the way things are now, we have a long way to go because we don't work as a team everyone is for herself," she added.
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"If you look at Ethiopians, they run as a team, not like Kenyans, for example I was alone in the final as a Kenyan, so I had to give my all, because there was no one to team up with or sacrifice one to make sure one wins a medal."
Moraa changed her running technique after the heats, where she blazed to victory.
"The coach has really helped me in changing my running tactics, he told me to control my body until I get to the final. We did not have a physio for Kenya, that too contributed to our dismal performance, like for me after every race I had to dip myself into the ice but that is not as good as a massage."
-Commonwealth Games-
Moraa will be hoping to make the amends at the Commonwealth Games that comes up in few days in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
"I will go to Birmingham for the commonwealth Games, Kenyans should expect good performance from us, we know the competition will be tough, but we will push hard," Moraa underscored.
"I thank my fans who have been supporting me although, I have been reading their goodwill messages on social media and I appreciate for the moral support they have given me."
"They should keep on supporting us, not to give up on us, I promise them that I will go back to training maybe next year in Budapest for the World Championships or 2024 Olympics I will win gold," Moraa said in finality.
-Alex Isaboke is reporting from Eugene, Oregon, USA-
