Marco Arop fell short of reclaiming his gold medal but emerged with a bronze at Japan National Stadium. The Canadian runner clocked a season-best time of 1:41.95 in the men’s 800-meter final on Saturday. Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya secured his first world title in a record time of 1:41.86, with Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati overtaking Arop to claim silver in 1:41.90.
Aged 27, Arop was aiming to join the ranks of Canadian athletes defending their world titles in Tokyo. Expressing his delight, Arop stated, “I’m really happy to come out with some hardware, end up on the podium again.” He added, “It was a tough one, coming in here. So I’m just really happy to be able to perform a season’s best today and come out with a medal.”
With Arop’s bronze, Canada’s medal count stands at four going into the final day of competition. Evan Dunfee from Richmond holds another gold in the 35-kilometer race walk. Arop now boasts three world championship medals in the 800 meters— one gold and two bronze, along with an Olympic silver from the 2024 Paris Games.
However, Sarah Mitton faced disappointment, finishing fourth in the women’s shot put after being in contention for a medal position. On the relay front, both the Canadian men’s and women’s 4×100 teams advanced to the finals, with strong showings in their respective heats.
Pierce LePage of Canada withdrew from the decathlon, ending his hopes for a repeat victory. Anna Hall made history by securing the heptathlon title, becoming the second American to achieve this feat after Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Despite facing setbacks in previous competitions, Hall clinched her first major title by dominating the heptathlon event.
