Melissa Bishop crushes Canadian record, narrowly misses 800m podium
Melissa Bishop ran a national record for Canada in the women's 800m final at the Olympics running 1:57.02 to finish in fourth place (photo: COC).
Melissa Bishop ran the fastest time by a Canadian in history with a 1:57.02 in the women’s 800m. The 28-year-old Eganville, Ont. native finished fourth in the Olympic final behind winner Caster Semenya, who ran 1:55.28, a South African record.
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Bishop, the previous record holder, lowered her own mark by .41 seconds to narrowly miss the podium. Kenya’s Margaret Wambui beat her for third and Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba finished in the silver medal position.
The fourth place finish matches Canada’s best-ever placing in the women’s 800m at the Olympics. Jenny Thompson finished fourth in 1928.
The field, led by Niyonsaba, the world indoor champion, went through the first lap in 57.59 seconds. Bishop ran a very smart race tactically but could not defeat Wambui for the bronze.
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Bishop won the silver medal at the 2015 world championships and was the Pan Am Games champion in the 800m. She is coached by Dennis Fairall out of Windsor, Ont.
Canada has won six athletics medals as of Friday evening. The team won just one medal at the 2012 Olympics on the track and in the field.
Race video
BREAKING | #CAN Melissa Bishop sets Canadian record in 800m (1:57.02), finishes 4th https://t.co/Pq0t8AqHNL https://t.co/3sU3nEFHlk
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 21, 2016
Results
FINAL SPLITS
| SPLIT | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 600m | Francine NIYONSABA |  BDI |
1:26.72 |
| 400m | Francine NIYONSABA | BDI |
57.59 |
| POS | BIB | ATHLETE | MARK | DETAIL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1170 | Caster SEMENYA RSA |
1:55.28 | NR |
| 2 | 370 | Francine NIYONSABABDI |
1:56.49 | |
| 3 | 959 | Margaret Nyairera WAMBUI KEN |
1:56.89 | PB |
| 4 | 468 | Melissa BISHOP CAN |
1:57.02 | NR |
| 5 | 1102 | Joanna JÓZWIK POL |
1:57.37 | PB |
| 6 | 724 | Lynsey SHARP GBR |
1:57.69 | PB |
| 7 | 386 | Marina ARZAMASOVA BLR |
1:59.10 | |
| 8 | 1345 | Kate GRACE USA |
1:59.57 |
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