Marco Arop wins short distance event at Grand Slam Track
Marco Arop set a personal best in 1500m, and clinched the overall short distance title at the Grand Slam Track meet in Philadephia on Sunday.
After running to first place in his signature event in the 800m on Saturday, Arop started strong in the 1500m. Despite losing some ground in the final 100 metres, he held onto fourth place to clinch the overall title.
He crossed the line with a time personal-best time of three minutes, 35.58 seconds. He amassed 17 points across the two races, finishing one point ahead of Great Britain’s Josh Kerr, who won the 1500m on Sunday.
Josh Hoey, running for the U.S., finished third in the overall classification after a fifth place finish on Sunday.
In the men’s 100m, Andre De Grasse ran a 10.15 to finish fifth. He missed the overall podium by three points.
Aaron Brown finished seventh in the 100m. He fell tot fifth overall after reaching the podium iun the 200m yesterday.
The event was dominated by American Kenny Bednarek who won both the 100m and 200m, setting a world leading time of 9.86 seconds.
Arop Strikes Gold
In his signature event, the 800 m, Marco Arop claimed gold with a time of 1:43.38, his best result of the season. He finished just over a second ahead of American Josh Hoey. The podium was completed by another American, Yared Nuguse.
In the men’s 200 m, Aaron Brown took bronze with a time of 20.50 seconds, matching British runner Zharnel Hughes, who finished second. American Kenny Bednarek won gold with a time of 19.95 seconds. Andre De Grasse narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth.
Katzberg and Rogers Stay Hot
Ethan Katzberg won the men’s hammer throw at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, Kenya, delivering the best throw of the year.
His throw of 82.76 meters secured victory for the Paris 2024 gold medalist, ahead of Croatian Matija Greguric (76.68 m) and Hungarian Daniel Raba. This marked the Canadian’s second consecutive win at this stage of the World Athletics Continental Tour.
Fellow Canadian Camryn Rogers also took gold in the women’s hammer throw with a season-best of 77.93 meters. Despite two invalid throws, Rogers finished ahead of Denmark’s Katrine Koch Jacobsen (74.21 m) and American Janee Kassanovoid (74.17 m).
Warner and LePage In Tough
After the first five events of the decathlon at the Hypo Meeting in Götzis, Austria, Damian Warner sat in seventh place, while his teammate Pierce LePage was in eleventh.
The day started well for Warner, last year’s winner, as he posted the second-best 100 m time (10.39 seconds). He then recorded a long jump of 7.51 m, a shot put throw of 14.41 m, a high jump of 2.03 m, and a 400 m time of 47.57 seconds. With a total of 4,424 points, he trails leader Ayden Owens of Puerto Rico by 228 points.
LePage, recovering from back surgery, ran the 100 m in 10.70 seconds, followed by a long jump of 7.42 m. In the shotput, the Ontario native threw 14.41 m, added a high jump of 2.03 m, and finished the 400 m in 49.59 seconds.
The competition continues tomorrow with the 110 m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and 1500 m events.
The World Athletics Championships will take place from Sept. 13 to 21 in Tokyo, Japan.
