Training Partners Arop, Anderson Pursue First Olympic Medals

PARIS, France – The reigning world champion and his training partner are set to represent Mississippi State and their home nations in the men's 800m at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Marco Arop will look to add Olympic gold to his medal collection for Canada, and Navasky Anderson will make his Olympic debut for Jamaica.

The first-round heats of the relay will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 7 at 4:55 a.m. CT, which is 11:55 a.m. in Paris. The top three finishers in each heat will automatically advance to the semifinals set for Friday, Aug. 9 at 4:30 a.m.

New for the 2024 Games, the World Athletics Council approved the introduction of repechage rounds to all individual track events from 200m to 1500m in distance, including the hurdles events. Now, athletes who do not qualify by place in the first-round heats will have a second chance to advance to the semifinals by participating in repechage heats the following day. The new format means every athlete in these events will be guaranteed at least two Olympic races.

That will be welcome news to Anderson, who was disqualified in the first-round heats in his first World Athletics Championships appearance in 2022. Under the new format, he will run at least twice.

If either Bulldog is required to run in the repechage round, it will be held on Thursday, Aug. 8 at 5 a.m. The final will be run at 12:25 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10.

Arop and Anderson make MSU the only school in the nation with multiple athletes in the men's 800m at this year's Olympic Games. The duo makes up one-third of the NCAA representation in the event.

A medal for either man would be historic. Canada has not won an Olympic medal in the 800m since Bill Crothers won silver in 1964. Arthur Wint stands as Jamaica's only 800m medalist, winning back-to-back silvers in 1948 and 1952. Neither nation has ever won a gold. The Bulldogs each hold their country's national record in the event.

Arop is the reigning world champion, and he clocked in just eight-hundredths of a second off his lifetime best in his most-recent outing in early July. He reached the semifinals at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021. Anderson meanwhile, won a bronze medal at the Pan American Games in 2023.

The first round and repechage will air live on USA Network and be replayed later on their respective mornings on NBC. The semifinals will stream on Peacock, and the final will be broadcast on NBC. Results will be available on Olympics.com along with MSU's State to Paris webpage and social media feeds.

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Bulldog Bios

Navasky Anderson (Jamaica)

Personal Best: 1:44.70 (July 30, 2023) | Season Best: 1:45.29 (May 11) | World Rankings: 67th World; 1st JAM

Will make his Olympic debut at the Paris 2024 Games ... won the 2024 Jamaican Championship in the 800m ... previously represented his country at the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships, 2023 Pan American Games and 2022 Commonwealth Games ... won bronze in the 800m at the 2023 Pan American Games ... holds the Jamaican national record in the men's 800m both indoors and outdoors ... broke the Jamaican national record in the 800m for the first time at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships where he was the national runner-up ... bettered the previous mark which had stood for 45 years ... was the 2022 SEC Outdoor Champion in his event ... three-time All-American ... holds three top-five marks in MSU history in the indoor and outdoor 800m and the indoor mile.

Marco Arop (Canada)

Personal Best: 1:42.85 (Sept. 17, 2023) | Season Best: 1:42.93 (July 12) | World Rankings: 2nd World; 1st CAN

Made his second career Olympic team and will compete at the Paris 2024 Games ... clocked an Athletics Canada Championships record 1:43.53 in the 800m while qualifying for Paris ... ran the second leg on Canada's 4x400m relay at the 2024 World Athletics Relays ... won the 2023 World Athletics Championship in the 800m ... reached world No. 1 ranking for the first time in his career in June 2023 ... took bronze in the 800m at the 2022 World Athletics Championships ... became first Canadian man to medal at the World Championships in the 800m since Gary Reed in 2007 ... competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games ... won gold at the 2019 Pan American Games ... two-time NCAA runner-up ... four-time Athletics Canada champion ... holds Canadian national records in the 800m both indoors and outdoors ... holds MSU's 800m school records indoors and outdoors and State's freshman record.

Olympic Men's 800m Schedule (all times CT)

Wednesday, Aug. 7

Time	Event	Athletes	Country	Watch
4:55 a.m.	First Round	Navasky Anderson Marco Arop	JAM CAN	USA Network Replay: NBC at 8:20 a.m.

Thursday, Aug. 8*

Time	Event	Athletes	Country	Watch
5 a.m.	Repechage	Navasky Anderson Marco Arop	JAM CAN	USA Network Replay: NBC at 8 a.m.

*if necessary

Friday, Aug. 9*

Time	Event	Athletes	Country	Watch
4:30 a.m.	Semifinals	Navasky Anderson Marco Arop	JAM CAN	Peacock

*participation dependent upon qualification

Saturday, Aug. 10*

Time	Event	Athletes	Country	Watch
12:25 p.m.	Final	Navasky Anderson Marco Arop	JAM CAN	NBC

*participation dependent upon qualification

Training Partners Arop, Anderson Pursue First Olympic Medals

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Players Mentioned

Navasky Anderson

Marco Arop

Mississippi State University Athletics

Training Partners Arop, Anderson Pursue First Olympic Medals

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Players Mentioned

Navasky Anderson

Marco Arop

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