Marco Arop runs world-leading 800m in season-opening win at Xiamen Diamond League

Marco Arop saw an immediate payoff after cutting short his indoor track season to transition to hill work and increase his mileage ahead of the outdoor campaign.

While the Edmonton middle-distance runner didn't set his third Canadian record in as many races in 2024, Arop did extend his win streak to three, leading the men's 800 metres from start to finish season for a world-leading time of one minute 43.61 seconds at the Diamond League season opener on Saturday in Xiamen, China.

Wyclife Kinyamal of Kenya made a valiant attempt to pass Arop, cutting the Canadian's lead with 200 metres to go and further closing the gap down the final stretch but was edged at the finish, stopping the clock in 1:43.66. Tshepiso Masalela of Botswana was third in 1:43.88.

His teammate, Kethobogile Haingura, held the previous world lead of 1:43.94 while Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi maintained the meet record of 1:43.20 from last Sept. 2.

Arop, 25, ran to a pair of Canadian marks in the span of a week to open his indoor season in the 800 and 1,000, finishing 54-100ths of a second shy of the world record in the latter event on Feb. 4 in Boston.

"The one thing that stood out in both [races] was how comfortable I felt from the start to finish," he told CBC Sports in February from Starkville, Miss., where he lives and trains.

"I want a couple of months of solid training before opening outdoors. I wasn't planning on chasing any times or records indoors. The main goal remains the Olympic Games and winning a medal [in Paris this summer]."

The reigning world champion has yet to appear in an Olympic final. He was seventh (1:44.90) in the semifinals three years ago in Tokyo, finishing 16-100ths of a second behind Kenya's Emmanuel Korir — the final qualifier for the final —and placed 14th overall in a field of 24.

At the 2023 Diamond League Final, Arop lowered his personal best to 1:42.85, breaking Brandon McBride's 1:43:20 national mark from 2018 in a second-place finish.

Arop also took charge early in that race, moving to the front of the pack behind pacer and training partner Navasky Anderson. He held on until halfway down the straight at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., where Wanyonyi passed him to reach the finish in a meet record and world-leading time of 1:42.80.

Arop will race next Saturday in Nuremburg, Germany before returning home for the Edmonton Athletics Invitational on June 13. Two weeks later, he will compete at the Canadian Olympic trials in Montreal.

Sarah Mitton also represented Canada at Egret Stadium in Xiamen.

Mitton, who twice broke a Canadian record on her way to women's shot put gold at the World Athletics Indoor Championships last month in Glasgow, was fourth on Saturday with a best throw of 19.35 metres on the second of her five attempts.

The 27-year-old from Brooklyn, N.S., opened the competition at 19.05 and later delivered a pair of sub-19m throws bookended a 19.06 effort.

Reigning Olympic champion Gong Lijiao was victorious before the home crowd Saturday with a 19.72 performance, followed by Maddison-Lee Wesche of New Zealand delivered a 19.63 PB. Top-ranked Chase Jackson of the United States, the 2023 world champion, was third (19.62).