Arop aims for 'next gear' with Grand Slam Track after capturing Olympic 800m silver

Marco Arop, who ran to an Olympic silver medal in August, is the first Canadian to join Grand Slam Track before the professional league's inaugural season in 2025.

The reigning 800-metre world champion's contract signing was announced Tuesday.

"Running has always been about finding that next gear. … It's about constant growth and seeing where my training can take me," Arop told Grand Slam Track. "I'm incredibly excited to get this thing going."

The league is the brainchild of retired U.S. sprinter Michael Johnson and expected to launch next April with plans for one event in Los Angeles, home of the 2028 Olympics, one in another American city and two more overseas.

The plan is for nearly 100 of the sport's top performers to gather four times a year to compete for $12.6 million US in prize money over the first season. As of June, Grand Slam Track had secured over $30 million in financial commitment. 

Arop, 26, is the first 800m athlete to join the league's short distance racer group that includes Cole Hockey, who won 1,500m gold in Paris this past summer, and the silver and bronze medallists from that Olympic final — Great Britain's Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse of the United States.

WATCH l Arop secures 1,000-metre victory in Zagreb:

Marco Arop sets new 1,000-metre national record at World Athletics Continental Tour in Zagreb

Next year, each athlete in the short racer group would receive points for their finishing position in an 800m and 1,500m race. The athlete with the highest point total would win the Slam and $100,000 US top prize.

Calgary-born Grant Fisher of Michigan, who won 5,000m and 10,000m bronze in Paris, is also on board in a different group.

Arop, the former Mississippi State University athlete who still