Adopting unorthodox but ultimately effective tactics, Moraa charged through the first 200m in 25.9 but then slowed significantly once she reached the home straight, allowing Jamaica’s Natoya Goule to lead the field through the half-way point in 56.5. With 300 metres to go, Moraa was right at the back of the eight-woman field, while Hodgkinson was on Goule’s shoulder and soon moved into the lead.
Mary Moraa
World bronze medallist Mary Moraa overtook world and Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson to win the women’s 800m.
Adopting unorthodox but ultimately effective tactics, Moraa charged through the first 200m in 25.9 but then slowed significantly once she reached the home straight, allowing Jamaica’s Natoya Goule to lead the field through the half-way point in 56.5. With 300 metres to go, Moraa was right at the back of the eight-woman field, while Hodgkinson was on Goule’s shoulder and soon moved into the lead.
Hodgkinson entered the straight in pole position with Goule close behind while Moraa had moved onto Laura Muir’s shoulder and had found her second wind. Moraa regained the lead with about 35 metres remaining and went on to win in 1:57.07. Hodgkinson followed in 1:57.40 and Muir took bronze in 1:57.87, just 0.01 ahead of Goule.
Abraham Kibiwott maintained Kenya’s dominance in the men’s 3000m steeplechase, holding off a strong challenge from India’s Avinash Sable, who broke his own national record with 8:11.20. Another Kenyan, Amos Serem, took the bronze in 8:16.83.
Australia’s Oliver Hoare bounced back from a disappointing semifinals exit at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 to win the men’s 1500m, beating world champion Jake Wightman and 2019 world champion Timothy Cheruiyot. Hoare won in style, too, smashing the oldest Games record in a track event.
Cheruiyot and Kenyan teammate Abel Kipsang took turns at the front for most of the race, going through 800m in a swift 1:52.1 and 100m in 2:20.3. Wightman, representing Scotland here, moved into the lead with 200 metres to go and held pole position into the home straight. But, showing signs of fatigue, he was caught in the closing stages first by Cheruiyot and then by a fast-finishing Hoare, who charged past the two global gold medallists to cross the line in a PB of 3:30.12.
The winning time took more than two seconds off Flibert Bayi’s Games record of 3:32.16, set at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch – a performance which was a world record at the time.
Cheruiyot was second in 3:30.21 while Wightman held on for bronze in 3:30.53. In a race of notable depth, the first six men finished inside 3:31.50 and the top 10 were all inside 3:34.0.
Four days after winning the 10,000m – his first major title on the track – Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo bagged another gold medal, this time in the 5000m. And once again, it came down to another thrilling finish.
Kiplimo bided his time for the opening kilometres as world silver medallist Jacob Krop led the field through 3000m in 8:01.68. Krop’s Kenyan compatriot Nicholas Kimeli, the world leader, passed through 4000m in the lead in 10:41.08 as a gap started to appear between the leading three and the rest of the field.
Kimeli continued to lead for another couple of laps but couldn’t shake the challenge of Krop and Kiplimo. Coming off the final bend, all three men kicked hard but Kiplimo proved to be the strongest, powering his way to the finish in a season’s best of 13:08.08. Kimeli took silver in 13:08.19 and Krop finished third in 13:08.48.
Earlier, Emily Ngii won the bronze medal in the women’s 10000m walk.
The African 20km champion finished third in a new African record and personal best time of 43:50.00 with India’s Priyanka taking silver in a time of 43:38.00
Australia’s Jemimah Montag took the gold in a time of 42:34.30
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