Melissa Bishop comfortably takes lead in her heat to go through to 800m semi-finals

#CAN Melissa Bishop wins her 800m heat in #Athletics #Rio2016. Watch it NOW https://t.co/kWDV1N5dRe https://t.co/c2RZjnY1RV

— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 17, 2016

Melissa Bishop didn’t disappoint on the track today as she made her first appearance at the Rio 2016 Games. Bishop is one of Canada’s best shots at a medal going in the Games this year and in the first round of the 800m on Wednesday morning, she proved that she’s fit and ready to take down her competitors.

The first rounds of the 800m saw eight heats of eight women. The top two from each heat automatically qualify for the semi-finals, followed by the “fastest losers” based on time. The semifinals take place on Thursday at 10:15 p.m. EDT with the finals going ahead on Saturday evening at the same time.

Bishop ran in heat four and was the fastest woman to line up at the start. Ugandan athlete Halimah Nakaayi took the lead on the first lap while Bishop, knowing that she’s a sub-2:00 runner, comfortably hung in behind. The lead group went through the first lap at a quick pace: 57:27.

The second lap is where Bishop made her move, she ran on the inside lane and moved up to take the lead over Marina Arzamasova (Belarus) and Ethiopian Habitam Alemu of Ethiopia. On the final stretch, the race was between Bishop and the Belarus athlete, but Bishop remained extremely comfortable, kept her form with no issues and still took it without struggle in 1:58.38. That was also the fastest time out of all the women in the eight heats.

Bishop ran the fastest W800m heat time in the Olympics with 1:58.38

— K Ken Nakamura (@KKenNakamura) August 17, 2016

Her main competition is South African Caster Semenya, the favourite for the gold, who ran in the second heat. Another to watch is Eunice Sum, whom Bishop outran last year at the World Championships. Semenya advances as well with her first place finish in 1:59.31. Sum was also first in her heat in 1:59.83. Great Britain’s Lynsey Sharp was first in the first heat running 2:00.83.