Canadians Arop, Newman earn 3rd-place finishes at Diamond League Final

Canadians Marco Arop and Alysha Newman both earned bronze medals in their respective events Saturday at the Diamond League Final event in Brussels.

Arop, the Olympic silver medallist in Paris, got off to an early lead in the men's 800 metres but ultimately faded en route to a time of one minute 43.25 seconds.

Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who captured Olympic gold, surged in the final lap to overtake both Arop and Algerian Djamel Sedjati to win in 1:42.70. Sedjati took second in 1:42.86.

"The last meters were very hard, they always are," Wanyonyi said. "But I worked hard for it and I'm happy that I made it."

Edmonton's Arop arrived in Brussels brimming with confidence after lowering his national record to two minutes 13.13 seconds across 1,000 metres for the meet record at a World Athletics Continental Tour event in Zagreb, Croatia last Sunday.

But the Canadian couldn't keep his lead on the final lap. Instead, Wanyonyi continued his winning ways and also defended his Diamond League Final title, where he defeated Arop by 5-100ths in Eugene, Ore.

WATCH | Arop loses lead on final lap: 

Olympic bronze medallist Newman finished third in the women's pole vault competition. The London, Ont., native cleared a height of 4.80 metres.

Olympic champion Nina Kennedy, of Australia, won the Diamond League title by clearing 4.88. American Sandi Morris earned the silver (4.80).

Newman, 30, was competing in her fourth Diamond League Final but first since 2019.

Last week, she cleared 4.82 for second place behind Kennedy at the Weltklasse Zürich Diamond League event.

WATCH | Newman reaches podium: 

Kenya's Faith Kipyegon padded her remarkable winning streak over 1,500m with her fifth Diamond League season title at the series finale,