Bishop breaks Canadian 800m record on home soil ahead of Rio
At the 21 days to Rio mark, Melissa Bishop put herself in position to challenge for the podium, setting a new 800-metre Canadian record of one minute, 57.43 seconds in Edmonton on Friday night.
Last year Bishop shocked the world, when became the first Canadian to dip under the 1:58 mark and broke the national 800m record at the world championships in Beijing. However, the world silver medallist’s new record came under much different circumstances, making it more surprising than the first.
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Just a week after winning Olympic Trials, Bishop and some of her newly selected Rio 2016 teammates, stayed in Edmonton to give Canadians one final show before the Olympic Games.
Despite rainy conditions throughout the week, the sun came out for Bishop, who pushed herself to a record setting victory, beating the field by more than four seconds.
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Bishop’s impressive solo performance puts her third in the IAAF world rankings, behind South Africa’s Caster Semenya and Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba. The pair pushed each other to season’s best performances at the Monaco Diamond league the same day.
With the Rio 2016 quickly approaching, Bishop is one to watch as Canada’s athletics team of 65, competes at the Olympic Stadium from August 5 to 21.
The women’s 800m begins with heats on Wednesday, August 17 with the semifinals taking place next day. On August 20, on Day 15, the Olympic final will be contested.
Two Russians were first and third at London 2012 but may be missing the Games this year due to the IAAF doping ban on their country at Rio.
South Africa’s Semenya won the Olympic silver in London.
The winning time was 1:56.19, posted by Russia’s Mariya Savinova, who is considered by some “the face” of the Russian scandal.
