Marco Arop of Edmonton, Alberta won the silver medal in the men’s 800 metres in a Diamond League event in Xiamen, China on Saturday. It has been quite the stretch of excellence for Arop, who won the gold medal in the men’s 800 metres last month at the 2023 International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on August 26.
In Xiamen, Arop posted a time of 1:43.24. Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya won the gold medal with a time of 1:43.20. Benjamin Robert of France won the bronze medal with a time of 1:43.88. Arop reached the podium by 0.8 seconds over Wyclife Kinyamal of Kenya, who had a fourth place time of 1:44.04.
With the silver medal, Arop is in third place in the Diamond League standings with 24 points. He trails Kinyamal who has 30 points and Wanyonyi, who has 25 points. Arop is currently one of three Canadians ranked in the top three in the Diamond League standings. Canadian Olympic silver medalist Aaron Brown of Toronto, Ontario is currently second in the men’s 200 metres, and Sarah Mitton of Liverpool, Nova Scotia is third in the women’s shot put. Brown won his silver medal in the men’s 4×100 metre relay at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in 2021.
Arop’s time in Xiamen, was also a personal best. His previous best time was 1:43.26 which was set at the Diamond League event in Monaco on July 9, 2021. When Arop won the gold medal at the World Championship, he had a time of 1:44.24. The Canadian record in the men’s 800 metres belongs to Brandon McBride of Windsor, Ontario, who had a time of 1:43.20 at a Diamond League event in Monaco on July 20, 2018. The silver medal for Arop will give him confidence as he prepares for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
