Canada's Arop wins silver in men’s 800m track final

PARIS — It may take some time for everything to hit Marco Arop.

The 25-year-old from Edmonton claimed Olympic silver in the men's 800 metres on Saturday at Stade de France after being edged at the finish line by Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi.

Arop stopped the clock in a Canadian-record time of one minute 41.20 seconds. Wanyonyi held on for gold, beating Arop by one-hundredth of a second in 1:41.19. The two times are now the third- and fourth-fastest ever in the 800.

"Still trying to take it all in," Arop said with a smile. "It was a little bittersweet, I wanted that gold medal so bad but also, I couldn't have asked for a better race."

Algeria's Djamel Sedjati, who entered the race unbeaten this year, took bronze in 1:41.50. Sedjati held the world-leading time in 2024 entering the Games at 1:41.46, previously the third-fastest ever.

Arop's previous personal best and Canadian record was 1:42.85, which he ran in the Diamond League final last September, finishing second to Wanyonyi. His season best was 1:42.93.

"Not really," Arop replied when asked if he was shocked by his time. "I know these guys have been running 1:41 all year, so I just imagined if I keep myself in it and finish strong, it's gonna be incredibly fast.

"It'll probably take me a little moment for it to sink in but yeah, it's just incredible."

Kenya's David Rudisha owns the world record at 1:40.91, which was set at the 2012 London Olympics.

Arop feels as though he can break that mark in the near future.

"I think I'm definitely capable of it," he said. "I've still got a few more races this year so now I've got that targeted.

"It's something that's been sitting in the back of my mind for a long time. I knew, in the next maybe two years, I'm probably gonna be in the best shape of my life and why not go after it at some point before it's too late."

Arop entered the Olympics as the reigning world champion in the event, defeating the 20-year-old Wanyonyi for gold in 2023.

The six-foot-four Arop went with his world title-winning method of starting at the back of the pack before using his advantage in stride length to pass by his competition, picking up the pace in the second and final lap of the race.

It had worked as Wanyonyi, who paced the group for most of the race, looked as though he was slowing down in the final stretch with Arop having closed in on him.

However, Wanyonyi leaned his neck forward for the last few metres and, as video replay showed, practically defeated Arop by his nose.

"In that moment, you just try to focus on your cues," Arop said of the final stretch. "You try to stay technical, try not to fall apart and I did everything I could. It's not the first time we've had a finish like that, Wanyonyi and I. Every single time, it just seems like he has that edge right at the finish."

"He's an incredible athlete and it's not gonna be the last time we have a race like that. Hopefully next time we race it'll be me on top. But I gotta give credit where credit is due. The entire field was amazing tonight and I'm gonna look back at the race and watch it over and over again."

This past quadrennial has been quite the leap for Arop, who failed to even qualify for the final at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Arop's Olympic medal is Canada's first in the event since Bill Crothers earned silver at the 1964 Tokyo Games, and fifth ever. Alex Wilson and Phil Edwards earned silver and bronze, respectively, at the 1932 Los Angeles Games, with Edwards earning another bronze at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Arop also claimed bronze at the 2022 world championships, becoming the second Canadian to medal in the men's 800 at a world championship after Gary Reed's silver in 2007.

"Coming into this year, I've been looking at the last Olympics and I wasn't able to make a final then," Arop said. "So the goal was just to make the final and do something I've never done before.

"Of course the level of competition is the same as worlds but (the Olympics) has just got a different feel to it. I'm super grateful that I was able to execute today and stay composed and not let the moment be bigger than it is. … Everything just turned out the way we wanted."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2024.