Melissa Bishop counting down days to wedding
Canadian Olympian Melissa Bishop is counting down the days to her next major milestone
The past few years have marked several major milestones for Canada’s best runner in the 800m: nearly getting on the podium of her second Olympic Games, going gold at the Pan Am Games in Toronto, donning the Team Canada uniform again at the 2017 World Championships in London, resetting Canadian records in her name. This week, middle distance star Melissa Bishop counts down to another huge life event: her wedding.
On Oct. 7, Bishop is marrying longtime boyfriend Osi Nriagu who, she has told us, has been her major support through all of her athletic achievements. The two met in their early twenties on the track team while they were student athletes at the University of Windsor. (Bishop was a middle distance track runner and Nriagu, now retired from athletics, competed in long jump.)
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Nriagu has been supporting her from the sidelines for all of her biggest running achievements – from 2012 when she made her Olympic debut to this year’s biggest event in running, the World Championships. Actually, to this elite’s surprise, he proposed ahead of Rio at Easter of last year. (Stipulation: no planning until after The Rio Games).
For the average person, the wedding day (and the lead-up) is one of the most major events of a person’s life. While that will also be true for Bishop, having already competed several times on the world’s stage at the highest level of athletic competition, the 29-year-old has woken up on several mornings ready for one of the biggest days of her life. Understandably so, planning the wedding was not as all-consuming for this couple as it is for many. As mentioned by Bishop, most of the details were set in place prior to the World Championships this year, after the Olympics last year, and her racing has always been higher on the priority list, as one would expect.
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Bishop holds both the indoor and outdoor Canadian women’s records in the 800m with 1:57.01 being her PB. She has a silver medal from the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, a gold from the Pan Ams and she went into both Rio and London 2017 as one of the must-watch athletes in the 800m. She runs at a caliber that has not often been seen in Canadian athletics.
According to the Olympian, her cousin will be her Maid of Honour on Oct. 7.
Bishop has received loads of media attention after her accomplishments on the track. This spring, she also did a bridal photo shoot for The Globe and Mail.
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