Arop eyes back-to-back Diamond League wins after starring in 800m at Pre Classic
Fellow Canadians Moh Ahmed, Aaron Brown also racing Thursday in Lausanne
Moh Ahmed and Marco Arop will run for the first time in Lausanne, Switzerland while fellow Canadian Aaron Brown is aiming for his first podium finish in the 200 metres at the Athletissima meet after placing fourth in 2019.
Last Saturday, the 22-year-old Arop won his first Diamond League race in 1:44.51 ahead of Tokyo Olympic gold and silver medallists Emmanuel Korir and Kenyan teammate Ferguson Rotich at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore.
A traditional front-runner, Arop changed his tactics and came from behind to separate from the pack with a comfortable lead.
The Edmonton native, who didn't advance to the Olympic final, has a season best and PB of 1:43.26, only 6-100ths of a second off Brandon McBride's Canadian record.
WATCH | Arop captures 800 metres at Prefontaine Classic:
Nijel Amos is the lone Tokyo finalist not entered in Thursday's race at 2:15 p.m., with CBCSports.ca providing live stream coverage starting at 2 p.m.
Ahmed, who won silver in Tokyo to become Canada's first Olympic medallist in the men's 5,000 metres, will race the 3,000 at 2:50 p.m. ET before an expected crowd of 12,000 at Stade Olympic de la Pontaise.
The 30-year-old from St. Catharines, Ont., is fresh off a personal-best time of three minutes 53.87 seconds in the mile event at the Prefontaine ClassiC. Reigning Olympic 1,500 champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen won in a season world-leading time of 3:47.24 and is among the 16 runners in Thursday's 3,000.
With a 7:27.05 PB, the 20-year-old Norwegian goes for the European record of 7:26.62, set by Belgium's Mohammed Mourhit on Aug. 18, 2000. Ahmed's best is 7:40.49.
WATCH | Ahmed runs 12:58.61 for Olympic silver medal:
At 3:35 p.m. ET, Toronto native Aaron Brown will attempt to lower his time of 20.12 seconds in the 200 at the Pre Classic.
Two years ago, the Florida resident ran 19.95 in Lausanne but has only dipped under 20 seconds once in 12 races this season, a 19.99 performance in the Olympic semifinals.
Thompson-Herah targets long-standing 100m mark
Sprint queen Elaine Thompson-Herah is among 19 freshly crowned Olympic champions competing Thursday. She has set her sights on lowering the long-standing record for the women's 100 metres, believing it is now within reach.
The Jamaican won gold in both the 100 and 200 at the Tokyo Games in the last month, but made an even bigger statement at the weekend at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene where she ran the second-fastest 100 of all time in a blistering 10.54 seconds.
It edged her closer to Florence Griffith Joyner's long-deemed-untouchable 10.49 world record set at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, which could come under further threat in Lausanne at 3:07 p.m. ET.
"A few years ago I was asked whether I could break that record and I said it was not possible," Thompson-Herah told a news conference on Wednesday.
WATCH | Thompson-Herah posts 2nd-fastest women's 100 metres ever:
"But for me to run a 10.54 means it is within reach, therefore it means anything is possible."
Thompson-Herah will reprise her rivalry with fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, whom she beat into second place in Tokyo and in Oregon on Saturday.
"Elaine is much, much closer than I am," laughed Fraser-Pryce when asked about the record.
"It's good to be able to challenge a record that women thought for a long time was impossible to break and it speaks to the evolution of sprinting," she added.
WATCH | Thompson-Herah wins back-to-back Olympic 100m gold:
"To be able to be part of that conversation, or to have that conversation, is truly remarkable. I know Lausanne is a very good track, I ran 10.7 here in 2019 having just climbed off the plane"
The 34-year-old Fraser-Pryce warned her younger rival that Thursday's race was no foregone conclusion, despite Thompson-Herah's form.
"I definitely have not run my best race as yet and I'm still working on different phases of the races and hopefully I'll be able to put that together.
"I've always said every time you step out on to the track you want to win, that's the aim when you get out there.
"To have women you know will definitely be setting a fast time adds to the excitement, not only for the crowd but also for you as an athlete too because it raises your game," she added.
WATCH | Thompson-Herah blows away 200m field for 2nd gold in Tokyo:
With files from Reuters
