World 800m champ Marco Arop prioritizes winning track medals over world record 'passion project'

While talk between Grand Slam Track events could shift to Marco Arop's continued pursuit of David Rudisha's 800-metre world record, he remains focused on the opportunity to develop another skillset racing the 1,500.

Arop was sixth in a field of eight in the distance on Saturday, posting a time of three minutes 39.65 seconds in Kingston, Jamaica, not far off his 3:38.36 personal best from the 2023 Florida Relays. The Edmonton native went 3:40.81 at the same competition a year ago.

Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who won Olympic 800 gold last summer, held off the 1,500 medallists from the Paris Games — Cole Hocker, Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse — down the final straight and clocked 3:35.18 to capture Saturday's race. Nuguse (3:35.36) and Hocker (3:35.52) were second and third.

"Grand Slam Track is only going to help Marco racing those calibre of [1,500m] runners four times throughout the year," Arop's coach Chris Woods told CBC Sports before the inaugural competition. "The 1,500 is a completely untapped skillset we don't necessarily have and now we get to sharpen those tools against the best in the world."

On Sunday, Arop faced the same athletes in the 800 and led wire-to-wire, clocking 1:45.13, ahead of runner-up Wanyonyi (1:46.44).

Arop joined the Grand Slam Track circuit last October and is the lone Canadian among 48 racers committed to appearing at all four Slams — Miami (May 2-4), Philadelphia (May 30-June 1) and Los Angeles (June 27-29) are the others.

WATCH | Wanyonyi wins Grand Slam Track 1,500m, Arop 6th:

Kenya's Wanyonyi wins Grand Slam Track 1,500m, Canada's Arop finishes 6th

Talk of Rudisha's seemingly untouchable world mark of 1:40.91 in the 800 only grew louder when Arop ran a 1:41.20 personal best to finish