Django Lovett of Surrey, British Columbia, and Marco Arop of Edmonton, Alberta each medaled in the Wanda Diamond League Series at the Herculis EBS athletics competition in Monaco on Friday. Lovett won a silver medal in the men’s high jump, and Arop won a bronze medal in the men’s 800 metres.
In the men’s high jump, Lovett had a jump of 2.29 metres. He reached the podium by .04 metres. Ilya Ivanyuk of Russia finished in fourth place with a jump of 2.25 metres. Mikhail Akimenko of Russia won the gold medal with 2.32 metres and Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus won the bronze medal with 2.25 metres.
In the men’s 800 metres, Arop had a third place time of one minute, 43.26 seconds. Nijel Amos of Botswana won the gold medal with a time of 1:42.91. Emmanuel Kipkurui of Kenya won the silver medal with a time of 1:43.04. Arop reached the podium spot by 0.31 seconds over Ferguson Cheruyiot Rotich of Kenya, who had a fourth-place time of 1:43.57.
Arop and Lovett are both medal contenders for Canada at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. The final for the men’s 800 metres will be on August 4, and the final for the men’s high jump will be on August 1. There will be significant pressure on Lovett, as Derek Drouin of Sarnia, Ontario is the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the men’s high jump, but will not be competing in Tokyo because of an Achilles tendon injury.
