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World 800m champion Marco Arop has opened up on the mental toughness he needed to have to get onto the podium at the Paris Olympics as he lacked belief of winning a medal.
World 800m champion Marco Arop admits he had to go the extra mile to win his silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics as he was not in the best form heading into the Games.
Arop came into the Olympics as one of the men to beat given his status as world champion but faced stiff competition from Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati as well as Frenchman Gabriel Tual, who had posted impressive performances leading to the event.
However, while the eyes of the world were on him, the Canadian was not so confident of doing well given he had just finished sixth at the Monaco Diamond League in July, having clocked 1:43.92, just weeks before the Olympics.
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20:06 - 08.01.2025
‘I could run 1:40’ - Why Marco Arop feels he can break David Rudisha’s world record & where he could possibly do it
World 800m champion Marco Arop has explained why he feels he has the capabilities to lower David Rudha’s 13-year world record, shedding light on the possible event to do it from.
But Arop nearly pulled it off as he appeared to have gotten the better of both Wanyonyi and Sedjati before the Kenyan summoned a great finishing kick to beat him with the closest of margins.
Wanyonyi won the race in 1:41.19 as Arop finished second in 1:41.20 and it is a performance that he is very proud of, given where he was coming from.
“I wasn’t as confident heading into the Olympics as I was heading to the World Championships because I was like the 10th best, so knowing I would have to run a personal best to possibly get into the final or get into a medal position,” Arop told the Citius Mag podcast.
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10:15 - 07.01.2025
'It might come'- Emmanuel Wanyonyi hints at when he plans to attack David Rudisha's world record
Emmanuel Wanyonyi has hinted at when he might be going for the 800m world record.
“It is all about trusting the process, no matter how the season goes, I know that as long as I am improving and getting better in training and healthy, I know I will keep getting better and performing well.
“When it comes to clutch performances like the Olympics, it is all about just your preparations and mental game, those last few weeks there is not a lot you can do to get a lot better so I knew going in, this is what I have got and I had to bring out the best of myself.
“I give credit to the team behind me because without them, I would not have gotten near the performance I did.”
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13:33 - 08.01.2025
'That's my biggest rival right now'- Marco Arop challenges Emmanuel Wanyonyi to join battle of supremacy showdown
Marco Arop has challenged Emmanuel Wanyonyi to reignite their 800m rivalry in new showdown.
Arop and Wanyonyi would battle it again three more times post the Olympics, the Kenyan beating him at the Lausanne Diamond League, before he avenged in Silesia but the 20-year-old would claim the bragging rights at the season-finale in Brussels in what was another closely-contested race between the two.
The world champion’s time in Paris was the fourth fastest of all-time and it has given him confidence of going for David Rudisha’s world record of 1:40.91 that has stood since the 2012 London Olympics.
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