One week after becoming the world champion in the 800m, Marco Arop nearly won another second, 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.
