Marco Arop set a new Canadian standard on Sunday by winning the men’s 1,000-metre race at the World Athletics Continental Tour meet in Zagreb, Croatia. The 25-year-old completed the race in 2 minutes 13.13 seconds, surpassing his previous national record of 2:14.35, set in August 2022 at the Monaco Diamond League.
Arop finished well ahead of second-place runner Jonah Koech, originally from Kenya but competing for the United States, who crossed the line 2.02 seconds later. The Netherlands’ Stefan Nillessen claimed the third spot.
Arop’s victory in Zagreb is the latest in a string of career highlights. He secured a silver medal in the men’s 800-metre event at the Paris 2024 Olympics and captured the world championship title in the same event at Budapest 2023, an improvement on his bronze from the 2022 World Championships in Eugene.
Elsewhere in the competition, Nanaimo’s Ethan Katzberg, reigning Olympic champion in the hammer throw, finished third with a top throw of 79.04 metres. Ukraine’s Mykhaylo Kokhan took first place with a throw of 81.14 metres, edging out Poland’s Paweł Fajdek, who reached 79.10 metres.
In the men’s 100-metre sprint, Kelowna’s Jerome Blake secured a fourth-place finish, clocking 10.15 seconds. American sprinter Courtney Lindsey won the race in 9.97 seconds, ahead of Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya (10.02) and Romell Glave from the U.K. (10.11).
Blake was also a key part of the Canadian team that triumphed in the 4×100-metre relay at the Paris 2024 Olympics, adding to his silver medal in the same event at the Tokyo 2021 Games.
