Arop

SEPTEMBER 2023 UPDATE:

Marco Arop added World Champion to his list of accolades at the 2023 World Championships when he won an historic gold in the 800m – Canada’s first-ever gold medal at that distance.

He captured a bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships in the 800m, and advanced to the semifinals of the 800m at his first Olympic Games in 2020.

Just when you think Marco Arop has had his breakout season, he finds new ways to surpass what he has done before.

Still only 22, Arop has only been competing seriously since he was 17. So, while it may have seemed like his gold medal in the 800 metres at the 2017 Canada Summer Games might be his coming-out party, Arop built on that momentum for a remarkable 2018 season. He finished second at the 2018 NCAA Championships, captured his first Canadian Championship, and then finished second to Canadian record holder Brandon McBride at the 2018 NACAC Championships in Toronto.

That was still just the beginning. In 2019, Arop set a new Canadian indoor 800-metre record (1:45.90) at the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational and followed that up with a then personal best time of 1:44.25 to win gold and set a new Games Record at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. He capped the season off with a seventh-place finish in his first World Athletics Championships.

Arop’s development continued and his times reduced accordingly. During a 2020 season with few competitive opportunities available worldwide, he set a new personal best time of 1:44.14 at the Diamond League event in Monaco, achieving the Olympic Qualifying Standard in the process – part of a 10-day stretch where Arop earned three podium finishes (two second-place finishes, one third place) in three Diamond League races against some of the world’s best 800-metre runners.

The three-time All-American holds three Mississippi State records (indoor 800 metres, outdoor 800 metres and the 4x800-metre relay) and broke Mississippi’s freshman record in his debut performance (1:48.21). Arop also finished second at the 2017 Pan American U20 Championships where he eclipsed the meet record set by 1984 Olympic gold medallist Joaquim Cruz with a time of 1:47.08.

As you can see, Arop has been trending in the right direction for years now, seeing improvement and getting results on the national level, in NCAA competition and now on the international stage, culminating in his first Olympic Games in Tokyo.