Canada's Marco Arop places 3rd in final 800M race before national championships
Kenya's Kipyegon breaks 3rd world record of season at Monaco Diamond League
Marco Arop took a strong step toward his goal of upgrading on the bronze medal he won at the 2022 world championships on Friday.
The 24-year-old Edmonton native placed third in the 800-metre race at the Diamond League meet in Monaco, leaving himself in a solid position ahead of the Canadian championships, which begin Thursday in Langley, B.C.
First-place finishers at nationals who have attained the performance standard of their respective event will be automatically selected to Team Canada for the 2023 world championships in Budapest in August.
But as the pack turned into the final 100-metre stretch, Arop appeared to tire and faded to third place with a time of 1:43.51 — nearly half a second off of his personal best.
Kenya's Wyclife Kinyamal won the race with a world-leading time of 1:43.22, while Algeria's Slimane Moula was second at 1:43.40.
WATCH | Arop places 3rd:
Earlier, Kenya's Faith Kipyegon obliterated her third world record of the season — this time in the mile, where she stopped the clock in four minutes 7.64 seconds.
The time was nearly five full seconds faster than the previous mark set by Dutch runner Sifan Hassan on the same track in 2019.
Kipyegon, who also set world marks in the 1,500 and 5,000, finished nearly seven seconds clear of second-place finisher Ciara Mageean of Ireland.
Kipyegon is the two-time Olympic and world 1,500 champion.
Kipyegon's compatriot Ferdinand Omanyala won the men's 100 in a photo finish, one tenth of a second ahead of Letsile Tebogo of Botswana while Jamaica's Ackeem Blake took third place.
American Fred Kerley, who suffered his first defeat of the season last week at the Silesia Diamond League, did not run.
WATCH | Omanyala tops men's 100:
Norway's Karsten Warholm also set a record on Friday, notching a Diamond League mark of 46.51 seconds in the men's 400 hurdles.
"Seeing that things are still working and I can go faster and faster every time, that means a lot," said Warholm, who improves his world-leading season best by 0.01 seconds. "This is nice timing as the world championships are just around the corner. I won everything and I have the record so I have to enjoy it because there is no other reason to do it. The goal is always to get the win."
WATCH | Warholm wins men's 400 hurdles:
Meanwhile, Canadian Moh Ahmed, who won silver in the 5,000 at the Tokyo Olympics, placed 10th in the race at Monaco.
The 32-year-old, who's already been named to Canada's team at worlds, crossed the finish line in 13:01.58 — over 15 seconds off of his season best, and nearly 25 ticks away from his personal best.
Jamaica's Shericka Jackson scorched to victory in the 200 with 21.86, ahead of Julien Alfred from Saint Lucia.
"Oh, my execution, I do not think that the curve was as good as I wanted but I managed to go until the finish so it was good," Jackson said.
Britain's former world champion Dina Asher-Smith took third place with a time of 22.23, her season's best.
Watch highlights and analysis of the Monaco meet on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET on CBC-TV, CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
The Diamond League season continues on Sunday in London, England. Live coverage of the event begins at 9 a.m. ET across CBC Sports' digital platforms.
With files from The Associated Press and Reuters
