Who’s the guy that beat Brandon McBride at the Canadian Track and Field Championships?

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk_ixhQhRrL/?hl=en&taken-by=marco_arop

Marco Arop is a Mississippi State computer science major, NCAA silver medalist, and now, national champion over 800m. Arop’s was arguably the performance of the day on Sunday at the Canadian Track and Field Championships. 

The 19 year-old upset World Championship finalist, Brandon McBride to take the win in the 800m final. Arop ran an honest race, leading start to finish. “I had two plans going into the race: either follow the leader, or control the race. Obviously I ended up controlling the race. I was certainly running scared, but I think that ended up helping me.”

RELATED: Ahmed is your Canadian 5,000m Champion

Arop immigrated to Canada from Sudan in 2002 and now calls Edmonton, Alta. home. He just finished his first semester at Mississippi State University. Co-incidentally, McBride also attended Mississippi State, and had a big impact on Arop’s decision to attend the school. Arop’s current head coach is McBride’s former head coach.

RELATED: McBride bested by Arop in 800m upset on final day of ACTF competition

Arop’s recent results are even more impressive considering he’s only been seriously training for three years. He did some track in elementary school, but only recently got back into the sport. 

The 800m runner says he had a feeling he would do well this season, but no idea he would do this well. Arop broke through to a new level when he placed second at the NCAA Championships in June, and brought that momentum into Sunday’s race. Arop said, “NCAA’s is a huge stage, but there’s something special about the Canadian Championships. I love competing in front of a Canadian crowd.” Post-race Arop got Jamaican food with his coach and caught a flight home from Ottawa to Edmonton early Monday morning. 

RESULTS | @AthleticsCanada Championships

Marco Arop gives MSU its fourth national champion in 2018! He edges out Brandon McBride to win the 800m crown in 1:46.15!#HailState? pic.twitter.com/fc691T5jRE

— Mississippi State T&F (@HailStateTF) July 8, 2018

Arop is an automatic qualifier for the NACAC Championships this August in Toronto. He plans to have a solid training block at home before heading east for NACAC, and then back down to school in Mississippi. 

Arop’s current mindset with regard to running is, “It’s fun for me. There’s no pressure.”