Canadian Olympic silver medalist Marco Arop of Edmonton, Alberta won the gold medal on Sunday in the first ever Grand Slam Track event in Kingston, Jamaica. Arop finished in first place in the men’s 800 metres.
Arop had a winning time of 1:45.13. Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya won the silver medal with a time of 1:46.44. Bryce Hoppel of the United States won the bronze medal with a time of 1:47.02. Arop reached the podium by 2.71 seconds. Neil Gourley of Great Britain finished in fourth place with a time of 1:47.84.
This was the first of four Grand Slam Track events in 2025. The other three grand slam track events are in the United States as they will be in Miami, Florida from May 2-4, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from May 30-June 1, and Los Angeles, California from June 27-June 29.
In addition to competing in the men’s 800 metres, Arop competed in the men’s 1500 metres too. In Saturday’s competition, he finished in sixth place.
It should be noted that Wanyonyi won the gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. In an event that produced faster times than Kingston, Wanyonyi won the Olympic gold with a time of 1:41.19, while Arop posted an Americas record time of 1:41.20. The gold medal in Kingston will give Arop confidence as he prepares for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.