World champion Mary Moraa of Kenya and World Indoor Championships silver medallist Jemma Reekie of Britain will compete over 800m at the Doha Diamond League Meeting at the Qatar Sports Club on May 10.
Moraa is the Kenyan record holder over 400m (50.38) and won the All-African Games 400m title in March 2024. In recent years she’s become a dominant force in the 800m, lowering her personal best from 2:03.27 in 2020 to 1:56.03 with victory at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest (2023). In 2022, the charismatic 23-year-old – who has become known for her dancing celebrations – finished third at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, won Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham, and was crowned Wanda Diamond League champion.
“I’m looking forward to returning to Doha to compete in the Diamond League,” said Moraa, who last competed in the Qatar capital at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, reaching the semi-finals of the 400m. “Every year I’m learning more and growing in confidence. I am now a world champion and it’s natural that my target for this summer is to run quicker than I’ve ever done before and to win gold at the Olympic Games. I have seen the crowds in Doha and how they get behind the African athletes – I hope I can do a victory dance for them!”
Reekie, the British indoor mile record holder (4:17.88) rose to prominence as a double gold medallist over 800m and 1500m at the 2019 European Under-23 Championships. She has since delivered a series of impressive championship performances including finishing runner-up at the 2024 World Indoors in Glasgow and reaching the finals of the Olympic Games in Tokyo (2021) and World Championships in Budapest (2023), finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
Her lifetime best over 800m is 1:56.90, the fourth-fastest ever by a British woman. “My indoor season finished on a high with my first major medal, but it’s no secret that I want to be challenging for a place on the podium in every competition – it’s in my nature and it’s what I believe I’m capable of,” said the 26-year-old. “Every training session and every race I do is building towards the Olympic Games in Paris. The women’s 800m is so strong right now. I’m excited to be part of it and I’m looking forward to getting my Diamond League season underway against top quality opposition in Doha.”
The Doha leg is the third meeting of the 2024 Diamond League. The series comprises 15 meetings in total across four different continents, starting with Xiamen on April 20 and concluding with a single final across two days in Brussels (September 13-14). Each of the 14 series meetings will be broadcast globally in a live two-hour programme.
Kenya’s Mary Moraa has become a dominant force in the 800m, lowering her personal best from 2:03.27 in 2020 to 1:56.03 with victory at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
