Canada's Marco Arop wins short-distance title at Grand Slam Track stop
PHILADELPHIA - Edmonton's Marco Arop won the short-distance title at a Grand Slam Track event after finishing fourth in Sunday's men's 1,500-metre race.
Arop finished in a personal-best time of three minutes 35.38 seconds to take five points from the race.
He had 17 points altogether in the short distances after winning Saturday's 800 metres. That was one point better than Britain's Josh Kerr, who won the 1,500 in 3:34.44 but was fifth in the 800.
Arop, the Olympic silver medallist at the Paris Games, has won all three 800-metre Grand Slam races so far. He finished second overall in short distance at the first two stops on the circuit after finishing sixth and seventh in the 1,500.
Andre De Grasse of Markham, Ont., was fifth and Aaron Brown of Toronto was seventh in Sunday's 100 metres to finish fourth and fifth respectively in the short sprint category.
American Kenny Bednarek swept the races after winning Saturday's 200m.
Grand Slam Track was started by American track and field legend Michael Johnson, and is in its inaugural season. The first event was in Kingston, Jamaica, the second in Miami, and the fourth and last one will be in Los Angeles June 27-29.
All competitors have to compete in two events and are split into categories — short sprints (100, 200), long sprints (200, 400), short hurdles (100 hurdles for women, 110 hurdles for men, 100 for both), long hurdles (400 hurdles, 400), short distance (800, 1,500), long distance (3,000, 5,000) — with a points system in place.
Winners get 12 points, second place gets eight points, third gets six points, fourth gets five points, fifth gets four points, sixth gets three points, seventh gets two points and eighth gets one point.
The athlete with the most points after competing in both races from each category is named the 'Slam Champion' for their race group. The overall season leader in points for each race group will be recognized as 'Racer of the Year.'
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2025.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
French Open 2025: Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek win, setting up tremendous semifinals match
The top-ranked woman in the French Open is heading to the semifinals. Aryna Sabalenka reached the final four at the event Tuesday after defeating Qinwen Zheng in straight sets. Zheng didn't go down without a fight, forcing a tiebreak in the first set. Sabalenka was able to pull through, taking the first set 7-6. She seemed to find her stride at that point, cruising to a 6-3 win in the second set to win the match. Advertisement While Sabalenka played a strong game, unforced errors from Zheng aided in the win. Zheng registered 31 unforced errors in the loss. Sabalenka had just 18. The win pushes Sabalenka into the French Open semifinals for just the second time in her career. She also reached the semis in 2023, where she lost to Karolína Muchová. Despite her No. 1 ranking, Sabalenka has never won the French Open. She's come close in recent years. Following her semifinal appearance in 2023, Sabalenka made it to the quarterfinals in 2024. Those two appearances are the closest she's come to winning the event. Her quest to win the event will only get harder from here. Sabalenka will take on Iga Swiatek in the semifinals. Swiatek has the head-to-head advantage over their careers, winning eight of 12 matches she's played against Sabalenka. Iga Swiatek advances with win over Elina Svitolina Iga Swiatek's dominance at the French Open continued Tuesday, when she defeated Elina Svitolina to advance to the semifinals. Advertisement Swiatek got out to a dominant start, taking down Svitolina 6-1 in the first set. The second set, however, proved more challenging, as Svitolina fought back, even taking a lead at times during the set. Swiatek didn't allow Svitolina to get too big of a lead and was able to battle back, eventually making it 5-5. Swiatek got it together late, winning the final two games to give her the 7-5 win in the second set. She managed to finish off Svitolina with an ace. With the victory, Swiatek will advance to the French Open semifinals for the fifth time in her career. Every time she's made it this far at the event, she's won it. The French Open has been Swiatek's best Grand Slam over her career. It's the only Grand Slam that Swiatek has won multiple times. Given that, and her great head-to-head record against Sabalenka, Thursday's match between both players should be one of the best of the entire tournament.
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Photo Essay: A transgender high school athlete navigates a fight she never asked for
On the morning the Trump administration threw its weight behind a local lawsuit challenging California rules that allowed her to compete on her high school track and field team, Abi had more pressing concerns. The 17-year-old transgender athlete was graduating that evening from Martin Luther King High School in Riverside. Her competing in girls' hurdles had kicked up protests, and she was nervously planning one last act of high school rebellion. 'The [school administration] was not allowing students to bring anything except their phones, and they were searching us before,' she said, referring to the graduation ceremony. 'So I had to smuggle contraband into a high-profile event with the risk of losing my diploma that I worked so hard to get this year.' Hours later, Abi whipped out a small transgender flag. As she walked across the graduation stage in her cap and gown, she waved it above her head despite being terrified that doing so would land her in trouble. She also knew from months of fighting for her right to compete that many people in the crowd disagreed with her on transgender rights, and some were outwardly hostile. But she didn't flinch. It was a milestone moment for a transgender teen who dealt with — and survived — a modern American political gantlet because she 'didn't have much of a choice.' 'No one asked me if I had the mental strength or not before they sued California over me or before they sent hundreds of students to protest against me all day,' Abi said. 'I just figured everything out on the go.' Since writing about and photographing Abi for a February story, The Times has followed her closely to capture what life is like for a teenager caught in the middle of that debate. In February, she asked to remain anonymous given the threats to transgender athletes. But now, along with her mother, Abi agreed to have the resulting photographs, and her name, published here. Even though just days have passed since another transgender athlete — AB Hernandez — drew protests at California's high school track and field championships. Abi did not qualify to compete. Transgender activism 'was never something I was planning on doing,' Abi said, 'but I'm a fighter.'
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Ex-Olympic star Maurice Greene reacts after HS girl gets disqualified over fire extinguisher celebration
Former American track and field star Maurice Greene spoke out on Monday as California high school officials disqualified a rising sprint star for performing the celebration he made famous. Sophomore Clara Adams, of North Salinas High School, finished in second place in the 400 prelims and came off the starting line quickly in the 400 finals and ran her way to a first-place finish, or so she thought. Adams celebrated with her father after winning the race. She took a fire extinguisher from her father and sprayed her shoes with it, alluding to her being on fire, the Monterey Herald reported. Greene performed the fire extinguisher celebration after he won the 100-meter dash at the 2004 Home Depot Invitational. "When I heard, cause it happened, and then people just started calling me 'This girl who just ran the 400 did your celebration' I was like huh? What?" he told KSBW-TV on Monday. "If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her," the former Olympian said. Adams' father, David, said the celebration was done away from any of her opponents. "I have video of it," he told the Monterey Herald. "She was on the other side of the wall. I told her to step off the track. She did not spray her shoes on the track. We have protested the decision. I feel it was racially motivated." He explained further to KSBW-TV. "When she blew the fire extinguisher, the opponents were gone," he told the station. "That was our moment of celebration, and CIF officials made it about them. The crowd went crazy, they loved it, the CIF booth went crazy, they loved it. But those few guys in those jackets took offense to it, didn't like it, and made a decision based off emotions." The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) upheld the decision to disqualify Clara Adams from the 400. She then learned she could not compete in the 200 either. Fox News Digital reached out to the CIF for comment. In the wake of the incident, a petition was circulated to reinstate Adams' win. It has received more than 1,700 signatures as of Tuesday morning. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
