Arop runs to Canadian record over 1,000 metres, placing 3rd at Diamond League Monaco

Marco Arop held off world 1,500-metre champion Jake Wightman of Great Britain until the final straightaway but the 800 specialist didn't have the legs to go the extra distance and pull out the victory in Wednesday's 1,000 race at Diamond League Monaco.

Wightman passed his Canadian opponent with about 35 metres to the finish line en route to victory in a season world-leading time of two minutes 13.88 seconds at Stade Louis II.

Arop, who hadn't raced since earning bronze in the 800 at last month's World Athletics Championships, was second in 2:14.35, topping Nate Brannen's 2:16.52 national record from Aug. 20, 2012 in Linz, Austria. Clayton Murphy of the United States placed third (2:15.73).

The 28-year-old Wightman, coming off a bronze-medal performance at the Commonwealth Games last Saturday, ran under the meet record time of 2:17.42 by Kenya's Solomon Lekuta on July 20, 2018.

It's the ninth-fastest time ever to win the men's 1,000 in Monaco, the quickest by anyone since Ayanleh Souleiman of Djibouti clocked 2:13.49 on Aug. 25, 2016 and allowed Wightman to clinch third on the U.K. all-time list in the distance.

For Arop, it was his third top-three finish in as many races on the professional track and field circuit this season, following his third-place finish at the Diamond League season opener in Doha on May 13. He won eight days later, also in the 800 event, at Birmingham, England.

Last year in Monaco, the 23-year-old ran a 1:43.26 personal best, only 6-100ths of a second behind Brandon McBride's Canadian mark in the 800.

Before Arop became only the second Canadian man in history to win a world medal in the 800, he won his second Canadian title at the senior level and followed with a victory at the pre world