Canada's Marco Arop finishes 2nd in men's 800m at London Diamond League
Jamaica's Oblique Seville beats American Olympic champ Noah Lyles in men's 100m
Canada's Marco Arop ran a season-best time in the men's 800 metres to claim a second-place finish at the Diamond League track and field meet in London on Saturday.
Arop, the Paris Olympics silver medallist in the event, crossed the line in one minute 42.22 seconds, just behind Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi.
The Kenyan finished in a meet-record time of 1:42.00, scoring his second Diamond League win in as many weeks and looking primed for the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
"I am so excited to win this race, that is what I came here to do, and it is great to set a meeting record too," Wanyonyi said. "It was a great race to be a part of. Preparation has been going well after Monaco, so this one was important today.
"My training right now is at 80 per cent, so I will be upping the training in the next few weeks and over the next races before Tokyo."
Wanyonyi ran a world-leading time of 1:41.44 at last week's Diamond League event in Monaco.
Edmonton's Arop was also in that race in Monaco, where he posted his previous season best of 1:42.73 to finish fifth. After the race, Arop said he's encouraged by his improved times.
"[London] is such a great place to race, and it lifted us all [to] produce a really competitive and close race today," Arop said. "I was happy to run a season best. I just trust in my coach's plan and it seems to be paying off."
Seville upsets Lyles
In men's 100m race on Saturday, Jamaica's Oblique Seville finished in 9.86 to beat American Noah Lyles.
Lyles, the defending Olympic gold medallist in the 100, posted a season-best time of 10.00.
Seville said he's taking a lot of confidence out of beating a formidable field, which included Great Britain's Zharnel Hughes (10.02), Jamaica's Ackeem Blake (10.08), South Africa's Akine Simbine (10.11), and Botswana's Letsile Tebogo (10.12).
"I am proud of how I ran amongst a stacked field, and to win. I was the only one to run under 10 seconds today, it is something special and phenomenal heading into a major championship later this year," Seville said. "Everything I have been practicing in training, I delivered out there today. Coming out here and performing against these athletes makes me want to push a little harder.
"London is the place I wanted to run, so to get the Diamond League win here is very special to me."
Saint Lucia's Julien Alfred won the women's 200m event in London by running to a world-leading time of 21.71, which was also a meet record.
Alfred won silver in the discipline at Paris 2024 and is the reigning Olympic champion in the women's 100m. Alfred said she's happy with her result in the 200 as she prepares for the world championships.
"It was a strong first 150 metres of the race, and I managed to control it to finish strongly. It was a great race for me, and races like this give me a lot of confidence as we get closer to Tokyo," Alfred said. "I did the 200m last year before the Olympics and I finished second, but seeing how I ran today and how comfortable I felt, I am a lot more confident in my 200m heading into the worlds."
