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

After Olympic disappointment in 2021, a motivated Marco Arop redeemed himself with a 2023 world championship title in the men's 800 metres and a silver medal in North American record time at the Paris Olympics last summer.

With talk the Canadian runner is happier at practice and having better quality workouts, thanks in part to a budding friendship with new teammate Isaiah Jewett, it could spell more trouble for opposing runners.

"The relationship they have been building has reinvigorated Marco," Arop's coach Chris Woods told CBC Sports ahead of this week's first Grand Slam Track event in Kingston, Jamaica, where the Edmonton athlete will race for a $100,000 US top prize in the 800 and 1,500.

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

"Isaiah has a low 45 [second personal best] in the 400. Marco had not trained with someone that much faster than him [in] foot speed," continued Woods. "I'm praying it's beneficial in the long run."

Jewett was a 2021 NCAA champion in the 800 and made his Olympic debut later that year in Tokyo, where he cooled down with Arop after they failed to advance from their respective semifinals. They also talked about training together, but it didn't go further.

"They both have the goal of getting back to Tokyo," Woods said in reference to this year's World Athletics Championships from Sept. 13-21. "Now we can have this huge triumph together."

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The coach noted Jewett, 28, has brought a playfulness to workouts in Starkville, Mass., which can be stressful with athletes thinking of having to stay healthy, train and race at a