By Mitch Phillips
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Marco Arop foxed his rivals with a radical change of tactics, then poured on the pace to win a brilliant 800 metres World Championship gold for Canada on Saturday.
Normally a front runner, he kept his huge frame out of the picture, right at the back, through the first lap and while the rest of the field were wondering, he swept straight to the front at the bell and surged clear.
Born in Sudan and forced by the civil war to flee with his family of eight when he was two years old, Arop kept his foot down to win in 1:44.24.
Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi took silver in 1:44.53 while Ben Pattison continued Britain’s great middle distance form at the championships with bronze in 1:44.83.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
