Edmonton runner Marco Arop has a chance to make his hometown and the entire Canadian nation very proud.
The 25-year-old track star put on a show today at the Paris 2024 Olympics, as he won his 800m semi-final race with a time of 1:45.05. As a result, he qualified for the final and now has an opportunity to race for a medal.
Athlétisme 👟 : quelle performance de Marco Arop 🇨🇦! 🤩
Il remporte sa course de demi-finales au 800 m et se qualifie pour sa première finale olympique grâce un temps de 1 min 45 s 5/100! 👇@marco_arop #Paris2024 #rcsports #equipecanada #Athletics @athleticscanada pic.twitter.com/RnsCvKJ7Aq
— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) August 9, 2024
Arop was born in Khartoum, Sudan, but immigrated to Edmonton with his family a short time later. Despite not being heavily invested in track until the age of 17, he qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics at the age of just 21. There, he also ran in the 800m, finishing in 14th place.
As impressive as Arop’s run was today, he isn’t satisfied yet. In early May, he made it clear what he expected himself as he was preparing to head to Paris.
“I’d be lying if I said anything but gold,” Arop responded when asked what he would consider a success.
Should Arop medal, he will add another medal for Albertans, as Calgary’s Jaime Czarkowski was able to pick up a silver in artistic swimming on Wednesday, albeit as a member of Team USA. He would also serve as the first Canadian to win a medal in the 800m since Bill Crothers took home silver at the Tokyo 1964 Olympics.
Arpo will also look to continue Canada’s strong run at the Olympics. So far, Canada has won 22 medals, good enough for 11th place amongst all nations. Its six golds also rank 11th. His event will begin tomorrow at 1:05 pm ET/10:05 am PT.
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