Canadian running star Marco Arop up against world-best field at Diamond League Monaco
Canada's Marco Arop will compete against a very familiar field in the men's 800 metres at the Diamond League track and field stop in Monaco.
Seven of the eight athletes that ran in the final of last summer's Paris Olympic Games will line up in Friday's race at the Meeting Herculis EBS. That includes each of the Paris 2024 medallists: Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya, silver medallist Arop, and bronze-medal winner Djamel Sedjati of Algeria.
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CBC Gem and CBCSports.ca will carry all the live action beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
Arop is coming off a successful first season of competition in the new Grand Slam Track league. The 26-year-old Edmontonian won all three 800m races, and was crowned the winner of the short distance competition at the Philadelphia stop on June 1.
WATCH | Arop wins 800m at Grand Slam Track Philadelphia in dominant fashion:
This weekend's men's 800m race is scheduled to start at 2:23 p.m. ET, but is just one of several key events on Friday. Here are a few more events to keep an eye on:
Women's shot put
Canada's Sarah Mitton, fresh off a second-place finish at the Prefontaine Classic, will face a pair of reigning champions in Monaco.
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The world indoor champ from Brooklyn, N.S., will take on world champ Chase Jackson, of the U.S., as well as Paris Olympic gold medallist Yemisi Ogunleye, of Germany.
Another competitor to watch out for is indoor worlds runner-up Jessica Schilder, of the wetherlands, who is also the reigning European indoor champion.
WATCH | Mitton takes 2nd place at Diamond League Eugene:
Men's 200m
Paris Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana will have some high-profile competition at Monaco's 200m race.
That's because men's 100m Olympic champion Noah Lyles will make his Diamond League season debut at the event. The American was a late addition to the startlist but should challenge Tebogo, who just ran the 200 in a world-leading 19.76 to win at the Prefontaine Classic.
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Other notable athletes in the 200 are the Dominican Republic's Alexander Ogando and Jereem Richards, of Trinidad and Tobogo. Both sprinters have finishes of 19.86 seconds this season.
Women's 400m hurdles
Paris Olympic bronze medallist Femke Bol will bring her Diamond League undefeated streak in the women's 400m discipline into Monaco.
Two Americans are among the athletes looking to halt the Dutch track star's progress: Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell, and Dalilah Muhammad, who has already recorded a finish of 52.91 seconds this season.
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