Canadian Olympic silver medalist Marco Arop of Edmonton, Alberta won the silver medal on Sunday in the men’s 800 metres at the first ever World Athletics Ultimate Championships. He accomplished the feat by finishing in second place in Budapest, Hungary.
Arop had a second place time of 1:42.28. Djamel Sedjati of Algeria won the gold medal with a time of 1:41.91. Emnanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya won the bronze medal with a time of 1:42.44. Arop reached the podium by 0.26 seconds. Brandon Miller of the United States finished in fourth place with a time of 1:42.54. Arop was in the lead for the majority of the race, but was caught by Sedjati in the closing stages.
The World Athletics Ultimate Championship is a new event on the track and field schedule. The plan at this time is to have the championships once every four years in a non-Olympic even year between the years that the World Athletics Championships are taking place. So the next World Athletics Ultimate Championships would be scheduled for 2030.
It should be noted that the World Athletics Ultimate Championship was controversial. That is because female hammer throwers and male triple jumpers were excluded from competing, while male hammer throwers and female triple jumpers had a chance to compete for the prize money. Canadian Olympic gold medalist Camryn Rogers of Richmond, British Columbia, one of the best female hammer throwers in the world, rightfully called the World Athletics Ultimate Championships “not a full track meet” in an interview with Devin Heroux of CBC Sports.
Arop won a silver medal in the men’s 800 metres at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The silver medal at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship will give him confidence as he prepares for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
