Edmonton’s Marco Arop ran the third 1,500-metre race of his career Saturday on the second day of the Grand Slam Track stop in Kingston, Jamaica.
The 26-year-old competed in the men’s event against Cole Hocker of the United States, British middle-distance runner Josh Kerr and American Yared Nuguse — the Olympic gold, silver and bronze medallists last August in Paris.
Arop fell back off the lead pack and finished sixth in three minutes 39.65 seconds, not far off his 3:38.36 personal best from the 2023 Florida Relays
Kenya’s Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi provided one of the more entertaining finishes of the night as he held off all three Paris podium finishers down the final straight and clocked 3:35.18.
Nuguse (3:35.36) and Hocker (3:35.52), who finished second and third, will hope to make up ground when they compete in Sunday’s 800 at 4:39 p.m. ET.
Arop joined the Grand Slam Track circuit last October and is the lone Canadian among 48 racers committed to appearing at all four Slams – Miami (May 2-4), Philadelphia (May 30-June 1) and Los Angeles (June 27-29) are the others.
Arop has a 2023 world championship title in the men’s 800 and a silver medal in North American record time from the Paris Olympics last summer.
WATCH | Wanyonyi wins Grand Slam Track 1,500m, Canada’s Arop 6th:
Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi finishes first in the men’s 1,500-metre short distance race at the Grand Slam Track stop in Kingston, Jamaica. Edmonton’s Marco Arop, the reigning 800-metre world champion, places sixth.
Hudson-Smith crowned 1st GST champion
Briton Matthew Hudson-Smith was crowned Grand Slam Track’s first-ever Grand Slam champion in the men’s long sprints group.
Hudson-Smith was second in the standings after Friday’s 400 and won the group outright with a total of 20 points after reeling in the field in the back half of the shorter distance on Saturday, crossing the line in 20.77 seconds.
Live streaming of Grand Slam Track from Kingston, Jamaica is available at CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. Coverage concludes Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.
“Great to get the first one, I’m really excited and grateful,” the Paris 400 silver medallist said in televised remarks, as he leaves Kingston $100,000 US richer.
“I’m getting to the end of my career so it’s time to start saving,” the 30-year-old said.
WATCH l Track’s new pro league, Grand Slam Track, explained:
Four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson is the man behind the new professional track league.
Bednarek dominates men’s 200
American Kenny Bednarek, a twice Olympic champion, built up an enormous lead around the turn and stumbled through the tape to win the men’s 200 in 20.07, 3-10ths of a second ahead of Briton Zharnel Hughes, and clinch the men’s short sprints slam.
He won Friday’s 100 as well, for a point total of 24.
The new circuit fronted by retired American sprinter Michael Johnson, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, off its first of four meets this week with an aim of making Grand Slam Track the “Formula One of athlete racing.”
Athletes in 12 groups — men’s and women’s short sprints, long sprints, short hurdles, long hurdles, short distance and long distance — compete over two races per meet with the point totals from those runs determining the champion of each group.
WATCH | Bednarek takes men’s 200m in Kingston, Jamaica:
Kenny Bednarek of the United States finishes first in the men’s 200-metre short sprints race with a time of 20.07 at the Grand Slam Track stop in Kingston, Jamaica.
The start-up’s super-sized purses have lured some of the sport’s top competitors, including Olympic 200 champion Gabby Thomas and 400 hurdles world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who each notched wins on the meet’s opening day.
The trickier task, so far, has been filling the stands at Kingston’s National Stadium, as empty seats were abundant on Saturday after online critics slammed Friday’s even more sparsely attended opening night.
Thomas finished first in Friday’s 200 and was crowned the slam champion for the women’s longer sprints after finishing second in the 400 on Saturday in 49.14 behind Bahrain’s Olympic silver medallist Salwa Eid Naser (48.67), for 20 points total.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been more tired in my life,” said Thomas, who nearly let the second-place spot slip through her fingers in the final meters under threat from the Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino (49.35).
“I heard them on the home stretch — ‘$100,000 on the line’ —and so it really motivated me.”
