One down, two to go for Canada’s Marco Arop.
The reigning world champ breezed into the men’s 800-metre semifinals by finishing second in his heat on Wednesday at the Olympics.
Arop crossed the line in one minute, 45.74 seconds, just back of Belgium’s Eliott Crestan (1:45.51). The top three in each heat advanced to Friday’s semifinals.
“Top three was the goal, it didn’t matter if I was first, second or third,” Arop told CBC Olympics.
Arop, from Edmonton, followed up his bronze at the 2022 world championships with gold last year.
The Canadian missed the final at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Meanwhile, Mariam Abdul Rashid’s Olympic debut is off to a strong start.
The 26-year-old Canadian qualified for the semifinals of the women’s 100-metre hurdles event after finishing fifth in her heat Wednesday with a time of 12.80 seconds.
The semifinals will take place Thursday night in Paris.
Fellow Canadian Michelle Harrison finished eighth in her respective heat with a time of 13.40. She will next compete in the repechage round.
Harrison, 31, told Devin Heroux of CBC Olympics that she has been dealing with a stomach virus.