Marco Arop takes silver medal in men’s 800m

Marco Arop stormed to silver in the men’s 800m at Paris 2024.

Taking to the purple track at Stade de France, the 25-year-old ran 1:41.20 to step on to the podium, taking a North American area record while he was at it. His previous best time was 1:42.85.

Arop ran a strategically strong race, taking a spot at the back of the pack on the first lap, biding his time. On the bell lap, he made his way up through the field, hitting it hard on the home straight to snag the silver medal. This is Canada’s first medal in the men’s 800m event since 1964.

Arop shared the podium with Emmanuel Wanyoni of Kenya (1:41.19) and Djamel Sedjati of Algeria (1:41.50).

Paris 2024 is Arop’s second Olympic Games, having debuted at Tokyo 2020, where he placed 14th.

Arop moved comfortably through the rounds to reach the final, running 1:45.74 to finish second in his heat of the first round, and 1:45.05 to take the win in his semifinal heat.

Arop is the reigning world champion in the event, having taken the gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.