Moraa scent 800m Olympics glory as Cheruiyot, Komen scrape into 1500m final

World champion Mary Moraa cruised into the 800m final at the Paris Olympics as silver medalist Timothy Cheruiyot and African champion Brian Komen also scraped through to the 1500m final on Sunday here at the Stade de France.

The dancing queen wiped the floor with her opponents clocking 1.57.86 as she kept Kenya's hopes to end 16 years of Olympic two-lap race hurt alive.

Ethiopia’s Worknesh Mesele came home second with a personal best time of 1:58.06 to snatch the last slot for the final in the first semifinal as Cuban Daily Cooper Gaspar (1:58.39) settled for third place to miss out.

Moraa’s teammates Vivian Chebet and Lilian Odira however fell short leaving the Commonwealth Games champion as Kenya's sole representative for Monday's showdown.

Olympic debutant Chebet, who scraped through to the semi-finals using the newly introduced repechage route on Saturday, finished last in the second semi final won by Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma.

Odira, also in her first Olympics, finished fourth in the third semi-final but bowed out strongly with a personal best time of 1:58.53 as Tokyo silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson eased to the final as the winner with a time of 1:56.86, setting up a potentially explosive final against Moraa.

South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso finished second in 1:57.57 to seal the last spot for the final in the third semifinal.

“I’m happy to qualify for the final and now I can dare to dream. My opponents tried to box me inside but I was very careful with their plans and ensured that I stayed in the leading pack,” said Moraa, who was eliminated at the semi-finals in Olympics debut three years ago in Tokyo.

“For sure I feel sorry for Lilian and Vivian who have not made it to the final. It was my wish we all qualify as that would be a big motivation in the final. We train together and so I will feel a little bit lonely in the final but I have a duty to do. I will run for the Kenyans and also Vivian and Lilian,” she added.

Cheruiyot, Komen dig deep

In the 1500m contest, silver medallist Cheruiyot and national champion Komen had to dig deep to qualify for Tuesday's final.

Cheruiyot accelerated from the chasing pack in the last 100m to sneak through as he placed fifth in the second semi-final in 3:32.30 while Komen finished fourth to sail through in 3:32.57 as compatriot Reynold Cheruiyot came in a distant 10th in 3:35.32 to miss out on the final.

“I’m struggling with a cold that really affected me during the race. In fact, I feel I’m lucky to have sailed through. I hope by Tuesday I will have recovered for the final. It will be tough but we’re going for gold,” said Komen.

The two Kenyans will come up against reigning champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and world champion Josh Kerr who strongly stormed the final.