Canada takes over Day 8 of the World Athletics Championships
It was a special day for Canadian athletics in Budapest, Hungary.
Within the span of an hour, three historic moments transpired, two world champions were crowned, and four medals were handed out to Team Canada athletes.
First it was Marco Arop who became the first 800m world champion in Canadian history. The 24-year-old from Edmonton kicked into his highest gear at the 600m mark and never looked back.
It’s the first world championship gold of Arop’s career – coming in with a time of 1:44.24. He improves on his bronze from the 800m in 2022.
Next up was Sarah Mitton who was in a podium placement entering the afternoon session in shot put.
Mitton found herself in third place in the qualification round. She managed to climb up to second before her final throw, and launched a season best throw of 20.08m to clinch silver.
The medal is Canada’s first ever women’s shot put medal in the World Athletics Championships.
Finally, two of Canada’s best decathlon athletes of all time held podium positions entering the final day of competition. 2022 silver medallist Pierce LePage sat in second, while Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Damian Warner sat in third.
The pair were one and two in the 110m hurdles as Warner won the competition with a mark of 13.67, while LePage was right behind him with a personal-best mark of 13.77. The results propelled LePage into first place.
LePage went onto finish second in discus throw, second in pole vault, and seventh in javelin throw to position himself in first place headed into the 1500m final event.
Warner (seventh in discus throw, seventh in pole vault, and sixth in javelin throw) was placed third overall headed into the 1500m.
It only took a 13th place finish – a season best for LePage – for him to clinch the World Championship gold. Warner, who finished seventh, managed to leap Grenada’s Lindon Victor to claim silver.
LePage becomes the first Canadian to win gold in the decathlon at the World Athletics Championships.
LePage finished with 8,909 points – a personal best, and sixth-highest finish in any decathlon competition. Warner finished with 8,404 points.
With one day remaining, Canada sits tied for in second in the medal standings in Budapest, with four golds and two silvers.