Arop 'hungrier than ever' to become Canada's 1st Diamond League champion since 2011

World champion Marco Arop admits he needs to learn how to celebrate his running accomplishments. Although he let loose with a gold-medal victory lap at the National Athletics Centre three weeks ago in Budapest, his mind quickly wandered to his next race.

"It's funny, I'm not too big on celebrations. But I can't celebrate just yet," said Arop, who was second in a men's 800-metre race a week after worlds at a Diamond League track and field meet in Xiamen, China.

Arop conceded he has reflected "for a few moments" on his first world title, which he wrote on paper as a season goal earlier this year.

"It's the best validation that everything I've worked so hard for pays off and reinforces the idea that I can't change the approach," he told CBC Sports while preparing for the two-day Prefontaine Classic Diamond League Final this weekend in Eugene, Ore.

Ranked second in the world, the Edmonton native qualified fourth for Sunday's eight-man race at 3:04 p.m. ET. Live streaming coverage of the Final begins at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.

WATCH | Arop captures 800m gold for 2nd straight world medal: 

On Monday, Arop was busy with coach Chris Woods analyzing the China race while battling the tail end of a cold he picked up after the competition.

Even though Arop ran a personal-best one minute 43.24 seconds — only 4-100ths of a second behind winner and world No. 1 Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya — he and Woods determined, if not for some minor mistakes, he could have beat this year's world silver medallist and moved closer to Brandon McBride's 1:43.20 Canadian record.

"Some things he can clean up that'll put him in the right direction for Eugene," said Woods, a former 800 runner who has guided Arop since 2019 when he became coach of the Mississippi State University track team. "He got clipped around 400 metres and I think he could have run better tactically.

"At this level, a tiny mistake can cost you a tenth of a second. We're constantly learning."

WATCH | Arop runs personal-best 1:43.24 at Xiamen Diamond League:

Last September, Arop was fresh off earning world bronze when he made a move with one lap to go at the Diamond League Final in Zurich. He led into the final straight but was caught by Kenya's Emmanuel Korir fewer than 10 metres from the finish line, placing second to the reigning Olympic champion in a season-best 1:43.38. He was fourth in 2021, clocking 1:45.23

Since his freshman year at MSU, Arop has had to work on his final 100 metres, trying to figure out his last kick or push.

"In so many races, I'll be feeling great the last 200, 150, 100 [metres] and the last 50 I start to break down or [break] form. Part of it can be mental," the 24-year-old said. "Maybe it's trying too hard to get to the finish line. I had the lead and great momentum [last year in Zurich] going into the final curve.