Marco Arop of Edmonton, Alberta won a silver medal on Friday in the men’s 800 metres at a Diamond League event in Paris, France. In the last event of the day, Arop posted a season best time of 1:43.30 seconds.
Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya won the gold medal with a time of 1:43.27. Slimane Moula of Algeria won the bronze medal with a time of 1:43.38. Arop earned a medal by a tenth of a second over Djamel Sedjati of Algeria, who had a time of 1:43.40 seconds.
For Arop, it was his first Diamond League medal of the season. He finished fifth earlier this year in Rabat, Morocco. Arop is now in fourth place in the 2023 Diamond League standings with 11 points. He is behind Wyclife Kinyamal of Kenya (17 points), Wanyonyi (16 points) and Moula (14 points).
The headline story in Paris on Friday was the fact that three world records were set. Faith Kipyegon of Kenya broke the world record in the women’s 5000 metres with a time of 14 minutes, 5.20 seconds. It was the second world record Kipyegon has set in the last month as she also set the world record in the women’s 1500 metres a week ago in Florence, Italy. Meanwhile, Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia broke the world record in the women’s 3000 metre steeplechase (7:52.11) and Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway broke the world record in the men’s two-mile race (7:54.10). The silver medal by Arop in the men’s 800 metres will give him confidence as he prepares for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
