Canada's Marco Arop captures second consecutive Diamond League 800 title

Marco Arop, of Edmonton, races to a first-place finish in the men's 800 metre race at the Harry Jerome International Track Classic, in Burnaby, B.C., on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Marco Arop held off Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir to capture his second consecutive Diamond League 800-metre title on Thursday in Lausanne.

The 22-year-old from Edmonton, who didn't advance out of the semifinals in his Olympic debut earlier this month in Tokyo, ran one minute 44.50 seconds on a gusty night.

Arop beat what was nearly an identical field to the Olympic final. Korir, who made a push to catch Arop down the homestretch, was second in 1:44.62, while Kenyan teammate Ferguson Rotich, the silver medallist in Tokyo, was third on Thursday in 1:45.48.

Arop beat virtually the same field to win the Prefontaine Classic last Saturday in Eugene, Ore. He captured a silver at the Diamond League meet in Stockholm a couple of weeks before the Olympics.

The Canadian is relatively new to track and field, capturing his first international title at the Pan American Games in 2019 in Lima, Peru. He grew up playing basketball, and dreamt of one day playing in the NBA.

Aaron Brown of Toronto was fourth in a men's 200 field missing Canada's Olympic champion Andre De Grasse. American Kenny Bednarek, who finished runner-up to De Grasse in Tokyo, won in a wind-aided 19.65. Brown crossed in 20.18.

Moh Ahmed of St. Catharines, Ont., the silver medallist in the 5,000 in Tokyo, moved down to the 3,000 on Thursday, finishing ninth. Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen won in 7:33.06. Arop crossed in 7:42.53.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 26, 2021.