Friday, August 9
Lee Eppie (BOT)
4:05 AM
Mississippi State
vs
Men's 4x400m Relay First Round
Photo by: Getty Images
Arop To Race For Medal Saturday, Eppie’s Squad Advances
August 09, 2024 | Track & Field, Olympic Games
PARIS, France – A pair of former Mississippi State track athletes are finals bound at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Marco Arop reached his first career Olympic final and became the first Canadian man to reach the 800m final at the Olympics since 2008. He was an automatic qualifier in Friday morning's semifinals, winning his heat in 1:45.05. Arop kept the race at a comfortable pace – it was the slowest of the three semifinals – and made his move down the final 100m.
Arop briefly led at the bell but allowed South Africa's Edmund du Plessis to front run over the next 300m. Coming off the final turn, Arop was nine-tenths of a second behind du Plessis, but the South African faded down the stretch and finished fourth.
"Staying composed, stay controlled and be ready for that final quick. I think I executed well today," Arop told Devin Heroux of CBC Sports. "I'm in a completely different [mental] state from three years ago, and it's showing in the races I've run. I'm keeping my confidence high going into the final, and I'm just grateful for it all, really."
Meanwhile, Lee Eppie's squad is finals bound after Botswana ran a season-best and world-leading 2:57.76 in the first round of the men's 4x400m relay. Eppie did not run with the team in the first round, but he is eligible to run in Saturday's final should the coaching staff opt to utilize him.
Saturday's potential medals would be historic. Canada has not seen an athlete medal in the men's 800m since Bill Crothers won silver in 1964 with a time of 1:45.6, which would have broken the Olympic record at the beginning of those Games. Additionally, Arop is attempting to become just the second man to win Olympic gold as the reigning world champion. Kenya's David Rudisha did so twice, at the 2016 Rio and 2012 London Games.
Botswana had never won an Olympic gold in any sport prior to Thursday when Letslie Tebogo won the men's 200m. Tebogo ran the opening leg on the 4x400m relay this morning. The African nation clocked national records in the 4x400m relay in each of the last two Olympic finals, winning bronze in Tokyo.
Mississippi State has already claimed one medal in Paris as Grenada's Anderson Peters took home bronze in the men's javelin on Thursday afternoon. State's best finish in the men's 800m is fifth, which was set by the Bulldogs' first Olympian, American Don Scott, at the 1920 Antwerp Games. Alternatively, the 4x400m relay is one of State's most-decorated events. Three of the Bulldogs' five track and field medals have come in that race, and Bulldogs have been part of world-record and African-record teams previously.
If both men win medals on Saturday, State would tie the school record for medals won in a single Games. At the 1996 Atlanta Games, Falilat Ogunkoya won silver in the women's 4x400m relay with Nigeria and bronze individually in the women's 400m while Ron Polk coached the American baseball team to a bronze medal.
Arop starts things off for MSU on Saturday, racing for gold at 12:05 p.m. CT. Botswana will race at 2 p.m. Both races will air live on NBC. Results will be available on Olympics.com along with MSU's State to Paris webpage and social media feeds.
For more information on the Bulldog track and field program, follow on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateTF."
Marco Arop reached his first career Olympic final and became the first Canadian man to reach the 800m final at the Olympics since 2008. He was an automatic qualifier in Friday morning's semifinals, winning his heat in 1:45.05. Arop kept the race at a comfortable pace – it was the slowest of the three semifinals – and made his move down the final 100m.
Arop briefly led at the bell but allowed South Africa's Edmund du Plessis to front run over the next 300m. Coming off the final turn, Arop was nine-tenths of a second behind du Plessis, but the South African faded down the stretch and finished fourth.
"Staying composed, stay controlled and be ready for that final quick. I think I executed well today," Arop told Devin Heroux of CBC Sports. "I'm in a completely different [mental] state from three years ago, and it's showing in the races I've run. I'm keeping my confidence high going into the final, and I'm just grateful for it all, really."
Meanwhile, Lee Eppie's squad is finals bound after Botswana ran a season-best and world-leading 2:57.76 in the first round of the men's 4x400m relay. Eppie did not run with the team in the first round, but he is eligible to run in Saturday's final should the coaching staff opt to utilize him.
Saturday's potential medals would be historic. Canada has not seen an athlete medal in the men's 800m since Bill Crothers won silver in 1964 with a time of 1:45.6, which would have broken the Olympic record at the beginning of those Games. Additionally, Arop is attempting to become just the second man to win Olympic gold as the reigning world champion. Kenya's David Rudisha did so twice, at the 2016 Rio and 2012 London Games.
Botswana had never won an Olympic gold in any sport prior to Thursday when Letslie Tebogo won the men's 200m. Tebogo ran the opening leg on the 4x400m relay this morning. The African nation clocked national records in the 4x400m relay in each of the last two Olympic finals, winning bronze in Tokyo.
Mississippi State has already claimed one medal in Paris as Grenada's Anderson Peters took home bronze in the men's javelin on Thursday afternoon. State's best finish in the men's 800m is fifth, which was set by the Bulldogs' first Olympian, American Don Scott, at the 1920 Antwerp Games. Alternatively, the 4x400m relay is one of State's most-decorated events. Three of the Bulldogs' five track and field medals have come in that race, and Bulldogs have been part of world-record and African-record teams previously.
If both men win medals on Saturday, State would tie the school record for medals won in a single Games. At the 1996 Atlanta Games, Falilat Ogunkoya won silver in the women's 4x400m relay with Nigeria and bronze individually in the women's 400m while Ron Polk coached the American baseball team to a bronze medal.
Arop starts things off for MSU on Saturday, racing for gold at 12:05 p.m. CT. Botswana will race at 2 p.m. Both races will air live on NBC. Results will be available on Olympics.com along with MSU's State to Paris webpage and social media feeds.
For more information on the Bulldog track and field program, follow on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateTF."
Players Mentioned
800m
/ Olympic Games
4x400m Relay
/ Olympic Games
Javelin
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