World champ Marco Arop sets personal best in men's 800m at Diamond League in China
CBC
Canadian Marco Arop, fresh off a world championship win in the men's 800 metres, improved his personal best in the distance on his way to a second-place finish at a Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China, on Saturday.
The Edmonton native crossed the line in one minute 43.24 seconds, just behind Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who stopped the clock in 1:43.20.
Wanyonyi took the silver at the world championships in Budapest last week.
The tactics on Saturday were a bit different for Arop than his world championship victory - in that race he stayed near the back of the pack before powering his way to the front at the back end of the race. The Canadian was near the front of the race from the start, with Wanyonwi and Arop neck-and-neck for the last 50 metres.
The new friendly rivals seem to be bringing out the best in one another – Wanyonyi won the race but needed a new personal best to do it.
WATCH | Marco Arop finishes 2nd in Xiamen:
After the race, Arop told reporters he's got his sights set on the Paris Olympics next summer, and that competitors like Wanyoni keep him motivated.
"I am in good shape right now [and] really excited, " Arop said. "I think I can do better in the future and I will come back. I think those young athletes also inspire me to do my best and what I should do is just to believe [in] myself.
"I am really looking forward to the Olympic Games and I will stay in good health to prepare for the competition."
Arop ended Saturday's race just four-hundredths of a second off the Canadian record, held by Brandon McBride since 1994.
In other action in Xiamen, Christian Coleman of the U.S. blazed to a world-leading time of 9.83 seconds in the men's 100m, finishing just ahead of Jamaica's Kishane Thompson (9.85).
The stacked field in the 100 also included the reigning Olympic champ, Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy, as well as American Fred Kerley and Jamaica's Yohan Blake.
Jacobs was seventh in a season's best time of 10.05, Kerley finished in third with a 9.96, and Blake was sixth in 10.04.
WATCH | Coleman runs a world-leading time in 100m victory in Xiamen:
