World champion Marco Arop watched last week’s exciting 800m race at the Paris Diamond League from his sofa, where the podium finishers recorded times that now rank as the third, fourth, and fifth fastest in history.
Although Arop missed that race, he is set to compete in the upcoming Monaco meet, the ninth event on the Diamond League circuit. Joining him will be Paris winner Djamel Sedjati of Algeria, who clocked 1 minute 41.56 seconds, and third-placed Frenchman Gabriel Tual.
However, Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who finished second in Paris, has withdrawn from the Monaco event.
“I think it’s a really great time for the 800m,” said Arop, who won gold at last year’s world championships in Budapest after claiming bronze in Eugene in 2022.
“I’m just a big fan of the sport, this event specifically, so I loved watching them.
“I’m really happy for these guys… it was incredible just watching them.”
Arop said he believed the current generation of 800m runners is capable of targeting David Rudisha’s long-standing world record of 1:40.91 from the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
“Seeing that race in Paris, it goes to show when you put your mind to it, you don’t really know what you’re capable of and that world record is definitely on the horizon now,” the Khartoum-born runner said.
“I dont know who’s going to break it but there are plenty of guys who are in range and that’s very exciting to me.
“It’s put the world on notice and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
Arop added his own hopes were to break the 1:42 mark at some point.
“Based on my training, I’m definitely in shape to run that,” he said. “I opened in Eugene with 1:43, the fastest I’ve opened a season.”
Tual, who smashed the French record when finishing third in Paris, said he had been on a “bit of a high for a few days”.
“But I’m fine now! The legs are good and I hope to run as fast tomorrow.”
His time saw him dislodge current World Athletics president Sebastian Coe in the all-time list, the Briton now sitting sixth behind Tual.
“That’s the toughest thing to realise, I think about it daily, it’s totally crazy!” said Tual.
“But it’s Monaco tomorrow and the Olympics in a few weeks, which mean I stay focused.
“I didn’t think I could run that fast and going into the top five of all-time is completely crazy. I’m here to run 1:41 again and to prove to myself I can run that fast again.”
Arop said he hoped the positive upswing in form would last through until the Paris Olympics.
“I hope that everyone will be at their best there so we can have a good competition,” he said.
“It helps a lot knowing that we’re not only capable of running fast, but having close competitive races. It will drive everyone to push past their own barriers and set some faster times.”
