A mid shot of Marco Arop running during a race. His right arm is bent and behind him, his left arm is in front, by his chest.Photo by Mark Blinch
Photo by Mark Blinch

Marco Arop sets personal best in 800m, finishes second at Diamond League

One week after becoming the world champion in the 800m, Marco Arop nearly won another, finishing a close second at the Diamond League in Xiamen, China.

Coming in with a time of 1:43.24, Arop set a new personal best in the 800m. He trades places with Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who stopped the clock at 1:43.20 to finish first.

Wanyonyi took silver at the world championships in Budapest last week.

France’s Benjamin Robert came in with a time of 1:43.88, finishing in third.

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“I wasn’t sure what to expect after Worlds,” Arop told reporters after the race. “To come out here, run a personal best and finish second, I think I was happy with the outcome.”

Arop ended Saturday’s race just 0.04 seconds off of the Canadian record, held by Brandon McBride since 2018.