© Copyright – 2023 – Athletics Illustrated
Edmonton’s Marco Arop, riding high off his gold medal win at the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships, improved upon his own personal best Saturday, clocking a one-minute, 43.24-second performance. Finishing in second place — the opposite tactic to his race in Budapest — the 24-year-old tried to hang on but was outsprinted to the line.
What a finish 🤯
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) September 2, 2023
🇰🇪's Emmanuel Wanyonyi clocks a world-leading 1:43.20 to beat world champion Marco Arop on the finish line of the men's 800m 🙌
📸@matthewquine for @Diamond_League#DiamondLeague #XiamenDL pic.twitter.com/mZp2vVJJd9
Kenyan Emmanuel Wanyonyi, clocked a 1:43.20 finish time for the win. In so doing, he set a new meet record and world-leading time for 2023 while improving upon his own personal best.
In Budapest, Arop patiently sat at the back of the field during the first 400m lap. He then began to run on the outside to get to the lead and continue to drop all competitors for the win. The opposite happened in Xiamen. He led early and perhaps ran some of the kick out of his own legs. Although the two did sprint mano-a-mano for the final 50m, it was Wanyonyi who breasted the line first. The two friendly rivals finished 1-2 in Budapest, with Arop winning and Wanyonyo taking silver.
“I am in good shape right now and really excited, ” Arop said. “I think I can do better in the future and I will come back. I think those young athletes also inspire me to do my best. And what I should do is just to believe in myself.
“I am really looking forward to the Olympic Games and I will stay in good health to prepare for the competition.”
Records
The Canadian record is currently held by 29-year-old Windsor, Ontario native Brandon McBride which is set at 1:43.20. In 2018, at the Monaco Diamond League meet, McBride took Kamloops native Gary Reed’s national record of 1:43.68 which was set in Monaco in 2008.
The current world record was set during the 2012 London Olympic Games by Kenyan David Rudisha at 1:40.91. That same year, Rudisha set the Diamond League record at 1:41.54 in the Paris edition. Therefore, Rudisha holds the World, Olympic and Diamond League records with the London and Paris performances.
Only five men have ever run sub-1:42, for a total of 15 times. Those performances were by Rudisha seven times. Also, fellow Kenyan Wilson Kipketer quarce, Great Britain’s Sebastian Coe once, Nijel Amos from Botswana twice, and Brazilian Joaquim Cruz once. One hundred and three times the benchmark of 1:43 has been bettered. Fourteen times by Rudisha, 21 times by Kipketer.
The next Diamond League meet is taking place on September 8, 2023, followed by Eugene on September 16 and 17.
| 1 | 9 | KEN | WANYONYI Emmanuel | 1:43.20MRWLPB | 2 | 25 | 1:43.27 | 1:43.27 |
| 2 | 6 | CAN | AROP Marco | 1:43.24PB | 3 | 24 | 1:43.30 | 1:43.26 |
| 3 | 7 | FRA | ROBERT Benjamin | 1:43.88 | 6 | 16 | 1:43.48 | 1:43.48 |
| 4 | 4 | KEN | KINYAMAL Wyclife | 1:44.04 | 1 | 30 | 1:43.22 | 1:43.12 |
| 5 | 3 | GBR | ROWDEN Daniel | 1:44.27 | 9 | 8 | 1:43.95 | 1:43.95 |
| 6 | 5 | FRA | MEZIANE Yanis | 1:44.28PB | 7 | 10 | 1:44.30 | 1:44.30 |
| 7 | 5 | ESP | ORDÓÑEZ Saúl | 1:44.54SB | 8 | 9 | 1:44.67 | 1:43.65 |
| 8 | 3 | FRA | TUAL Gabriel | 1:44.65 | 11 | 7 | 1:44.46 | 1:44.23 |
| 9 | 8 | GBR | PATTISON Ben | 1:44.87 | 1:44.02 | 1:44.02 | ||
| 10 | 7 | SWE | KRAMER Andreas | 1:44.97 | 10 | 8 | 1:44.57 | 1:44.47 |
| 11 | 1 | USA | HARRIS Isaiah | 1:45.10 | 1:44.85 | 1:44.42 | ||
| 12 | 2 | ITA | BARONTINI Simone | 1:45.42 | 1:44.34 | 1:44.34 | ||
| DNF | 9 | USA | SOWINSKI Erik400m – 49.50 sec. | 1:46.98 | 1:44.58 |
