Arop nears personal best in Monaco 800m, won by record-setting Algerian Djamel Sedjatis
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It promises to be a fierce battle for Olympic gold in the men’s 800 metres, given the performances of several runners the past week.
Djamel Sedjati of Algeria was victorious in his second Diamond League race in five days, posting a season world-leading and national record time of one minute 41.46 seconds on Friday in Monaco after going 1:41.56 for the previous lead time last Sunday at the Meeting de Paris.
The 25-year-old’s performance is a Diamond League record and took down the 1:41.89 meet mark of Botswana’s Nijel Amos held since July 12, 2019.
Sedjati, who entered Friday ranked third in the world, now sits third all-time in the event behind Kenyan David Rudisha (1:40.91) and Wilson Kipketer (1:41.11) of Denmark.
Mohamed Attaoui set a Spanish mark of 1:42.04 for second place in Monaco, while European champion Gabriel Tual was third (1:42.10) after the Frenchman placed third in Paris.
Reigning world champion Marco Arop of Edmonton led Friday’s race with 200 metres remaining but fell off the pace down the straightaway at the Stade Louis II, finishing sixth.
Still, the world’s top-ranking 800m runner recorded a 1:42.93 season best, just 8-100ths of a second shy of his personal best from a second-place effort in the Diamond League Final last Sept. 17 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore.
It is the first time in four races this season Arop hasn’t won. The 25-year-old was coming off a 1:43.71 run at the Canadian Olympic trials on June 29 in Montreal.
In Monaco, Arop jostled for position briefly with Sedjati early on before settling into third position. He was third behind Catalin Tecuceanu of Italy and Kenya’s Aaron Cheminingwa but took the lead shortly thereafter with Sedjati quickly in pursuit.
WATCH l Arop places 6th in Monaco:
Djamel Sedjati set a world-leading time of 1:41.46 in the men’s 800-metre race; which is the seventh-fastest time ever recorded, at the Diamond League stop in Monaco, while Edmonton’s Marco Arop finished in sixth place.
Morales Williams tops time from Olympic trials
In other action, Christopher Morales Williams of Vaughan, Ont., was sixth in his professional debut at Friday’s meet also referred to as Herculis EBS Monaco.
The 19-year-old worked his way to third position 300 metres from the finish in the men’s 400 and was fourth around the bend before reaching the finish in 45.11 seconds.
That time is quicker than his 45.44 from the 400 final at the recent Olympic trials.
WATCH l Morales Williams finishes 6th in pro debut:
Quincy Hall posted the fastest 400-metre time this year, 43.80 seconds, while Christopher Morales Williams of Maple, Ont., finished sixth in his much-anticipated professional debut, at the Diamond League meet in Monaco.
Morales Williams enjoyed a record-breaking sophomore season at the University of Georgia, setting an unofficial indoor world mark before capturing the NCAA indoor and outdoor titles and the 44.05 Canadian mark, the fastest by anyone in the world this year before American Quincy Hall went 43.80 for the win Friday.
Wayde van Niekerk holds the meet record of 43.73, set July 21, 2017.
Hall’s teammate, Vernon Norwood was second (44.34 SB) and South Africa’s Lythe Pillay third (44.58).
Elsewhere, Alysha Newman cleared a 4.76-metre season best to finish fourth in the women’s pole vault. She boasts the Canadian record of 4.82 from the Meeting de Paris on Aug. 24, 2019.
Toronto’s Lucia Stafford was sixth in the women’s 2,000 on Friday in a Canadian record 5:31.18 in her Diamond League debut. Angela Chalmers held the previous best of 5:34.49 since Sept. 4, 1994.
Stafford, 25, will compete in the women’s 1,500 at her second Olympics later this month. She was 13th in the event three years ago in Tokyo.
WATCH l Stafford sets Canadian 2,000m record:
Australian Jessica Hull broke the women’s 2,000-metre world record, with a time of 5:19.70, while Toronto’s Lucia Stafford broke Angela Chalmer’s Canadian record set in 1994, with a new national record time of 5:31.18, at the Diamond League meet in Monaco.
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