Marco Arop (born September 20, 1998) is a Canadian
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
athlete competing in the
middle distance events. He currently holds a personal best of 1:43:26 in the 800 m. He is the
2022 World bronze medallist and the
2019 Pan American champion in that discipline. Arop represented Canada at the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...
.
Early life
The Arop family fled
Sudan during the civil war of the 1990s when Marco was a toddler. He spent his early years sharing an apartment in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
with his parents and three older brothers before they immigrated to Canada. The family initially lived in
Saskatoon
Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...
,
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
, before taking up residence in
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
.
Arop's initial athletic focus was
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
. He was offered a scholarship by
Concordia University of Edmonton
Concordia University of Edmonton, is a publicly funded independent academic institution in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; accredited under the Alberta ''Post-secondary Learning Act''. Concordia offers arts, science, and management undergraduate degre ...
but switched his focus to track upon the recommendation of his high school basketball coach, who would later admit, "I had no idea that Marco was going to be this good."
Competitive career
Arop competed for
Mississippi State
Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...
in the 2018
NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field 800m in Eugene, Oregon, finishing in second place. He won the gold medal in the
800 m at the
2019 Pan American Games
; ay, Taqinipuniw anatt’apxtanxa''
, nations participating = 41
, athletes participating = 6,680
, events = 419 in 38 sports
, opening ceremony = July 26
, closing ceremony = August 11
, officially opened by = Martín Vizcarra
, to ...
, setting a new Pan American record in the process. He then made his
World Championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
debut at the
2019 edition in
Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...
. Qualifying to the final of the
800 m, he finished seventh. After the World Championships, Arop decided to end his amateur career and turn professional full-time, though the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
meant that the 2020 athletic season was largely cancelled.
In 2021, Arop competed in his first full professional season, making his first
Diamond League podium with a silver medal at the
BAUHAUS-galan
BAUHAUS-galan, formerly known as DN-Galan is an annual, international athletics meeting that takes place at the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm. Previously it was one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events until 2010, and has since been part of th ...
in
Stockholm.
[ Named to his first Olympic team, Arop competed in the 800 m event at the ]2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...
in Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
. Entering the race as a podium contender, he finished seventh in his semi-final. He did not advance to the event final, a major disappointment that he and his coaches attributed to a longstanding habit of starting too quickly, resulting in fading toward the end of the race. In his next event that season, the Prefontaine Classic
The Prefontaine Classic, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the University ...
on the 2021 Diamond League
The 2021 Diamond League, also known as the 2021 Wanda Diamond League for sponsorship reasons, is the twelfth season of the annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by World Athletics. The 2021 season sees an increase back to 3 ...
circuit, Arop claimed the gold medal ahead of the reigning Olympic gold and silver medallists, Emmanuel Korir
Emmanuel Kipkurui Korir (born 15 June 1995) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and 2022 World champion in the 800 metres. Korir won the silver medal in the event at the 2018 African Championships in Athletics.
As o ...
and Ferguson Rotich. Five days later, at the Athletissima in Lausanne
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...
, Arop again defeated Korir and Rotich to claim his second Diamond League gold. Arop's results qualified him to the Diamond League Final in Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
, where he finished in fourth place.
Arop began 2022 with this debut at the World Athletics Indoor Championships
The World Athletics Indoor Championships are a biennial indoor track and field competition served as the global championship for that version of the sport. Organised by the World Athletics, the competition was inaugurated as the ''World Indoor G ...
at the 2022 edition in Belgrade. He once again started a race hard and was leading the 800 m at the halfway point, but faded badly down the stretch and finished in eighth place. On the 2022 Diamond League
The 2022 Diamond League was the thirteenth season of the Diamond League, an annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by World Athletics. The competition was a revision to the top level athletics series since the Diamond League ...
, Arop won his third Diamond League gold, and first of the season, at the British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...
in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
. The following month, he won another Canadian national title, besting silver medallist Brandon McBride by almost a full second. In an invitational event held at Foote Field
Foote Field is a multi-purpose sports facility on the University of Alberta campus in Edmonton, Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie pro ...
weeks before the 2022 World Athletics Championships, he ran the 800 m in 1:43.61, the third-best time for any athlete that year to date.[ Arop had the fastest time in the heats of the 800 m in Eugene, Oregon, advancing to the semi-finals. He was second in his semi-final, passed just at the line by Algerian Slimane Moula, and secured automatic qualification to the final. Looking ahead, Arop said, "it's been a great first two rounds, but if I can't get it done in the final, I won't feel like I completed anything." Racing a 1:44.28 time in the final, Arop won the bronze medal, only the second medal for a Canadian in the 800 m at the World Championships. Arop said this medal "means the world" and was "already looking forward to bigger and better next year." Appearing in the ]1000 m
The 1000 metres is an uncommon middle-distance running event in track and field competitions.
The 1000 yards, an imperial alternative, was sometimes also contested.
All-time top 25
*h = hand timed
*i = indoor performance
*A = affected b ...
event at the Herculis meet in Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
, he set a new national record time of 2:14.35, breaking a decade-old best of Nathan Brannen
Nathan "Nate" Brannen (born 8 September 1982) is a Canadian retired middle-distance runner from Cambridge, Ontario, who competed at three Summer Olympics: 2008, 2012 and 2016. Brannen is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
He is affiliated ...
's.
Competition record
Championship results
Circuit wins
* Diamond League
**Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
: 2022 (800 m)
** Eugene: 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
(800 m)
**Lausanne
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...
: 2021 (800 m)
References
External links
*
1998 births
Living people
Canadian male middle-distance runners
Canadian people of Sudanese descent
Black Canadian track and field athletes
Sudanese emigrants to Canada
People from Khartoum
Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 Pan American Games
Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games
Mississippi State Bulldogs men's track and field athletes
Olympic track and field athletes of Canada
Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada
Pan American Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
Pan American Games track and field athletes for Canada
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