World champion Marco Arop is a step closer to his goal of running for his first Olympic medal in the men’s 800 metres.
The Edmonton athlete was second in his heat Wednesday, stopping the clock in one minute 45.74 seconds behind Belgium’s Eliott Crestan (1:45.71).
The semifinal is scheduled for Friday at 5:30 a.m. ET at Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
“If Marco makes the final in Paris, that’s a success,” Arop’s coach, Chris Woods, told CBC Sports in September 2023. “He’s a world champion but not yet an Olympic finalist so that’s the goal, and then we can focus on medals and winning.”
Arop placed seventh (1:44.90) in his 2021 Olympic semifinal in Tokyo, 16-100ths of a second behind Kenya’s Emmanuel Korir, the final qualifier for the final. The Canadian placed 14th overall in a field of 24.
WATCH | Arop runs 1:45.74 to qualify for 800m semifinal at Paris 2024:
Marco Arop secures place in 800m semifinals at Paris 2024
Canada’s Marco Arop advances to the men’s 800-metre semifinals at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 with a time of 1:45.74.
Canadian record falls in race walk team event
Evan Dunfee and Olivia Lundman, both of B.C., set a Canadian record and placed 20th of 23 finishing teams Wednesday in the first marathon race walk mixed relay contested at the Olympics.
They posted a time of three hours 4 minutes 57 seconds in a race held on the same course as the individual races at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. The event replaced the individual 50-kilometre race dropped after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
On April 21, they finished in 3:07:10 for a national record, according to Athletics Canada.
Dunfee and Lundman crossed the finish 14:26 behind gold medallists Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez of Spain (2:50:31) in the Olympic race held on the same course as the individual race walking events at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
In late April, the Canadians secured the 21st of 22 qualifying spots at the World Athletics team championships in Antalya, Turkey.
Hurdler Abdul-Rashid advances to 100m semis
Mariam Abdul-Rashid of Oshawa, Ont., qualified 14th for the women’s 100-metre hurdles semifinal, stopping the clock in 12.80 seconds in her first Olympic race.
Abdul-Rashid was happy to be running at Stade de France in a lane next to Frenchwoman Cyréna Samba-Mayela, who ran 12.31 in June for the third fastest time in the world this season.
“I wanted to hear that crowd. I love that,” she said.
In late April, the 26-year-old set a 12.69 personal best to meet the 12.77 automatic Olympic entry standard.
WATCH | Abdul-Rashid feeds off crowd to advance to 100m hurdles semifinal:
Mariam Abdul-Rashid advances to 100m hurdles semifinals
Canada’s Mariam Abdul-Rashid secures a spot in the women’s 100-metre hurdles semifinals at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 with a time of 12.80.
Saskatoon’s Michelle Harrison is also making her first Olympic appearance and needed a top-three finish in the fifth and final heat to automatically qualify for Friday’s semifinal (6:05 a.m. ET). She finished eighth in 13:40 and well shy of her 12.83 season best.
A three-time Canadian champion, Harrison will compete in Thursday’s repechage round at 4:35 a.m. for a chance to clinch a semifinal berth.
Source link : https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/summer/athletics/track/canada-olympics-athletics-august-7-1.7286034
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Publish date : 2024-08-07 09:32:01
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