Budding friendship with teammate has Marco Arop 'reinvigorated' entering Grand Slam Track

Doug Harrison · CBC Sports

· Posted: Apr 04, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

After Olympic disappointment successful 2021, a motivated Marco Arop redeemed himself with a 2023 satellite title rubric successful the men's 800 metres and a metallic medal successful North American grounds clip astatine the Paris Olympics past summer.

With speech the Canadian runner is happier astatine signifier and having amended prime workouts, acknowledgment successful portion to a budding relationship with caller teammate Isaiah Jewett, it could spell much occupation for opposing runners.

"The narration they person been gathering has reinvigorated Marco," Arop's manager Chris Woods told CBC Sports up of this week's archetypal Grand Slam Track lawsuit successful Kingston, Jamaica, wherever the Edmonton jock volition contention for a $100,000 US apical prize successful the 800 and 1,500.

"He's enjoying training, the [presence of Jewett]. He's coming to signifier and getting pushed successful areas helium had not [been] before.

"Isaiah has a debased 45 [second idiosyncratic best] successful the 400. Marco had not trained with idiosyncratic that overmuch faster than him [in] ft speed," continued Woods. "I'm praying it's beneficial successful the agelong run."

Jewett was a 2021 NCAA champion successful the 800 and made his Olympic debut aboriginal that twelvemonth successful Tokyo, wherever helium cooled down with Arop aft they failed to beforehand from their respective semifinals. They besides talked astir grooming together, but it didn't spell further.

"They some person the extremity of getting backmost to Tokyo," Woods said successful notation to this year's World Athletics Championships from Sept. 13-21. "Now we tin person this immense triumph together."

WATCH | Grand Slam of Track, explained:

The manager noted Jewett, 28, has brought a playfulness to workouts successful Starkville, Mass., which tin beryllium stressful with athletes reasoning of having to enactment healthy, bid and contention astatine a precocious level to marque ends meet.

"He brings a level of lightness and it seems Marco is enjoying his clip astatine practice," said Woods, caput manager astatine Mississippi State. "He's enjoying his craft, enjoying the travel but taking it highly serious."

Live streaming of Grand Slam Track from Kingston, Jamaica is disposable astatine CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem starting Friday astatine 6 p.m. ET. Coverage continues Saturday astatine 6 p.m. and concludes Sunday astatine 3 p.m.

On Saturday, the 26-year-old Arop volition tally the 3rd 1,500 of his vocation astatine 7:50 p.m. ET against "racers" Cole Hocker of the United States, British middle-distance runner Josh Kerr and American Yared Nuguse — the Olympic gold, metallic and bronze medallists past Aug. 6 successful Paris. The 800 goes Sunday astatine 4:39 p.m.

"Running has ever been astir uncovering that adjacent gear. … It's astir changeless maturation and seeing wherever my grooming tin instrumentality me," Arop told Grand Slam Track past fall. "I'm incredibly excited to get this happening going."

WATCH | Grand Slam co-founder Michael Johnson discusses caller way league:

Hocker, Kerr and Nuguse boast a PB nether 3 minutes 28 seconds portion Arop has a 3:38.36 champion from the 2023 Florida Relays. Four months ago, helium told U.S. online sports mag Citius Mag he'll tally 3:30 "at immoderate point."

"That's my expectation," Woods said. "If we judge we tin triumph [in Kingston], we indispensable besides judge that we tin tally nether 3:30.

"Marco has large contention instincts, nary substance the distance. That's wherever I person assurance successful his quality to vie with and situation those [Olympic medallists]. He ran a fractional marathon [on Dec. 15 successful Huntsville, Ala.], ran it good and won [in 1 hr 11 minutes 15 seconds]."

Arop joined GST past October and is the lone Canadian among 48 racers committed to appearing astatine each 4 Slams – Miami (May 2-4), Philadelphia (May 30-June 1) and Los Angeles (June 27-29) are the others.

Arop 1-hundredth of a 2nd from Olympic gold

Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi, American Bryce Hoppel, Neil Gourley of Scotland and Mohamed Attaoui — who was calved successful Morocco and represents Spain internationally — are the "challengers" successful the abbreviated region (800/1,500) group. Chosen based connected caller performances, they volition beryllium paid an quality interest for each Slam they tally in.

At the Paris Olympics, Arop clocked 1:41.20 and Wanyonyi held connected for gold, beating Arop by 1-100th of a second. Twelve days later, Wanyonyi held disconnected Arop down the stretch, this clip with a much sizeable margin, winning successful 1:41.11 astatine a Diamond League lawsuit successful Lausanne, Switzerland.

Woods cautioned fans to not underestimate Arop, the competitor, successful Jamaica.

"He's going to effort to win, period," Woods said. "I deliberation Marco's going to daze immoderate radical due to the fact that of his skillset, his volition and content successful himself that helium tin vie with anybody astatine immoderate region arsenic agelong arsenic we're prepared.

"Marco signed up to beryllium a racer, not a challenger, due to the fact that helium wants to contention the champion implicit and over. He doesn't shy distant from that. People similar that are dangerous."

Philibert-Thiboutot retiring aft season

Meanwhile, Quebec City's Charles Philibert-Thiboutot anticipates Kingston volition beryllium his lone Grand Slam Track contention and told CBC Sports helium volition beryllium retiring from competitory moving astatine the extremity of the season.

"When I was successful Paris [at the Olympics] I had this feeling I did perfectly everything I could to beryllium the champion runner I could be," said the 34-year-old two-time Olympian. "I consciousness successful my body, to get better, it's progressively hard whereas guys I'm racing against that are 25, 26, 27, they amended by leaps.

"I privation this past [season] to beryllium amusive and competitive. If I tally a mates of idiosyncratic bests and get bully results successful a fewer races, I'll beryllium blessed to bent up the spikes and person bully memories of leaving the sport."

A week ago, Philibert-Thiboutot was confirmed arsenic a substitute challenger for the longer region (3,000/5,000) contention group. The men's 5,000 is scheduled for Friday astatine 7:56 p.m., with the 3,000 connected Sunday astatine 4:49 p.m.

The Canadian volition conflict Calgary-born Grant Fisher from Michigan — a 2024 Olympic bronze medallist successful the 5,000 and 10,000 — along with and Ethiopia's Hagos Gebrhiwet, who ran the second-fastest 5,000 successful past past May successful 12:36.72.

"I deliberation I tin tally against the champion successful the satellite successful the [3,000]," said Philibert-Thiboutot, who held the Canadian grounds of 7:35.73 for 49 days past summer. "I inactive request much acquisition successful the 5K. Racing successful the [Jamaican] vigor tin beryllium hard for me.

"I gotta effort to usage my 1,500-metre velocity to my advantage. If the contention is strategic, possibly I tin effort to astonishment successful the sprint."