Canadian runner Marco Arop wins world title in men’s 800m

Click on the video player above to watch live action from the World Athletics Championships, beginning at 12:55 p.m. ET. Coverage includes coverage of the men’s decathlon and women’s shot put final.

Marco Arop is a world champion.

The 24-year-old Edmonton native ran to the gold medal in the men’s 800 metres on Saturday at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

Sitting at the back of the pack midway through the race, Arop made a move to the outside around the 500m mark and took the lead with about 300m to the line.

Arop looked strong down the straightaway and finished in one minute 44.24 seconds on a humid Saturday evening for Canada’s third medal of these worlds, all gold. Camryn Rogers and Ethan Katzberg won their respective competitions in hammer throw.

Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi, the former under-20 world champion who was fastest in heats and set the pace in the semifinals, was second in 1:44.53, followed by Ben Pattison of Great Britain (1:44.83).

In last year’s world final in Eugene, Ore., Arop took the lead with about 300m to the finish but was later passed by Kenya’s Emmanuel Korir and Djamel Sedjati of Algeria in the closing metres.

A path to gold was cleared on Saturday with Korir absent from race. He failed to advance to the semifinals after not full recovering from a left foot injury suffered in March.

Sedjati was disqualifed from the final.

Canadians Lepage, Warner 1st, 3rd late in decathlon

Pierce LePage of Whitby, Ont., leads the men’s decathlon with just two events remaining at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

Fellow Canadian Damian Warner is third with the javelin and 1,500-metre events later Saturday.

LePage, who won silver at last year’s worlds, set a personal-best time of 13.77 seconds in the 110-metre hurdles and posted a distance of 50.98 in the discus, finishing second overall in both events.

The 27-year-old matched his season best with a clear of 5.20m in the pole vault to keep the overall lead with 7,477 points.

Warner, the 33-year-old from London, Ont, was the only competitor faster than LePage in the hurdles, posting a time of 13.67 before a seventh-place finish in discus (45.82). The reigning Olympic champion’s 4.90m pole vault mark has him 217 points behind his teammate in the overall standings.

Germany’s Leo Neugebauer is second, 195 points behind LePage, and just 22 points up on Warner.

Warner was leading the decathlon through five events at the 2022 world championships before pulling up with a hamstring injury while running in the inside lane of the 400 metres.

Action from Budapest resumes at 12:55 p.m. ET with LePage and Warner still to compete in the javelin and 1,500m events.

Mitton advances

Sarah Mitton, of Brooklyn, N.S., advanced to the women’s shot put final at 2:20 p.m. ET with a throw of 19.37m in Saturday’s qualifier.

The Canadian only needed the one attempt to reach the qualifying mark, and managed the third-best result, behind the Netherlands Jessica Schilder (19.64) and American Maggie Ewen (19.43).

WATCH | Mitton qualifies for shot put final:

Canada’s Sarah Mitton finishes 3rd to qualify for shot put final

The Nova Scotia-born shot putter’s best qualification throw hit 19.37 metres and she will now have a shot at a medal.

Mitton, who won her third consecutive Canadian title last month, has been simulating morning/evening competition since the start of the year at meets and in training.

“I pretty much spend my whole day training,” she told CBC Sports in July, “but I think it’ll be worth my while because every time I do it, I feel a bit better and throw a bit further.

At worlds last summer in Eugene, Ore., where Mitton fell one centimetre short of a bronze medal, women’s shot putters had over 24 hours rest between qualifying and the final.

“It’s a new beast for everyone,” she said. “Some Eastern European athletes train twice a day as part of their regime, so they’ll have an advantage. But I think you’re at a disadvantage if you’re not doing it.”

WATCH l Mitton reflects on narrow medal miss at 2022 worlds:

Canada’s Sarah Mitton finishes 4th in women’s shot put at the World Athletics Championships

Sarah Mitton of Brooklyn, N.S., scored a 19.77 to earn a 4th place finish in women’s shot put at the World Athletics Championships.

The 27-year-old Mitton, who lives and trains in Toronto, first experienced the morning/evening format at the 2019 FISU World University Games in Naples.

“It’s hard to do,” said Mitton, “because you’re asking your nervous system to respond twice a day despite being fatigued. [I] probably [simulated it in training] five or six times before heading to the Games.”

When Mitton arrived at the shot circle for the women’s final in Naples, she spotted five or six of her opponents complaining of being tired.

“It felt like they were dragging,” she recalled. “I remember [being] full of energy and excitement. Before the competition started, I knew I was going to win because I was the most prepared.”

After Saturday’s qualifier, Mitton returned to the hotel to focus on executing her rest and recovery strategy ahead of the final, according to coach Rich Parkinson.

“Eat, hydrate, shower and a nap,” he told CBC Sports. “Room temperature water for better absorption and a couple of cappuccinos” before leaving for the National Athletics Centre.

Ethiopia dominates women’s marathon

Amane Beriso Shankule led a 1-2 finish by Ethiopia in the women’s marathon on a warm Saturday morning.

Shankule powered through the city streets of Budapest to finish in two hours 24 minutes 23 seconds to edge defending champion and teammate Gotytom Gebreslase. Fatima Ezzahra Gardadi of Morocco took bronze.

The 31-year-old Shankule said the Ethiopian team worked together to make it difficult on the rest of the runners to keep up.

“After we got rid of the rest, then it was a battle with my tough teammates,” Shankule said. “Gebreslase is a strong athlete and she wanted to defend her title.”

Vancouver resident Natasha Wodak clocked 2:30:09 for 15th of 65 finishers in her first marathon since setting a 2:23:12 Canadian record in Berlin in September 2022.

The 41-year-old has battled injury and illness several times since and entered worlds with three victories in four races this year, including one on the track at the Canadian 10,000m championships in June.

On the road, Wodak won her third straight Canadian 10K title, completing the Ottawa course in 32 minutes 51 seconds, and raced half marathons in Vancouver and New York.

Toronto’s Sasha Gollish, also, 41, was the other Canadian in Saturday’s race and placed 61st in a season-best 2:45:09 following a 2:54:43 effort in Ottawa in May.

Twelve athletes didn’t complete the race that began with temperatures at 23 C and soared to 29 C by the end. There were heat warnings in effect for later in the day when it’s expected to climb to around 35 C.

“I know it is very hot but for me it was not so difficult,” Shankule said. “I wish we had started a bit earlier so we could have run a faster time.”

Shankule steadily began to pull away from her Ethiopian teammates late in the race and raised her arms as she crossed the finish line inside Heroes’ Square. Gebreslase was 11 seconds behind.

Gebreslase set a world-championship record (2:18:11) in the cooler conditions of Eugene a year ago.

The marathon opened the second-to-last day at worlds. In the night session, Noah Lyles, fresh off winning the 200m, could be back on the track to anchor the United States in the 4×100 relay.

Faith Kipyegon of Kenya will look to add a 5,000m title to the 1,500 crown she won earlier in the championships. In addition, Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis is set to defend his title.

WATCH | Should Andre De Grasse have run in the 4x100m heats?

Should Andre De Grasse have run in the 4x100m heats?

2003 World Champion Perdita Felicien and CBC Sports’ Morgan Campbell react to Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse sitting out the 4x100m relay heats to rest for the 200m final.