Ex-MSU Athlete Fails to Qualify For Olympic Semifinals

Former SEC Champion Navasky Anderson won’t be joining fellow Bulldog Marco Arop in the 800M semifinals

Navasky Anderson (JAM) runs during a heat of the mens 800m during the World Athletics Championships Oregon 22 at Hayward Field. | Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

PARIS – Former Mississippi State SEC Champion Navasky Anderson won’t be joining a fellow Bulldog in Friday morning’s 800-meter semifinal heats at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Anderson, the first Jamaican runner in the 800M at the Olympics since 2008, ran faster in Thursday’s repechage race with a time of 1-minute, 46.1 seconds than his first race and ran near the front for most of the race until the final turn when he fell from second to fifth place on the final straightaway.

Canada’s Marco Arop, the reigning 800M world champion and former MSU runner, is scheduled to compete in the semifinals at 4:30 a.m. Friday on USA Network. He secured his spot in Friday’s semifinals heat with a 1:45.74 on Wednesday. He will be trying to win his nation’s first gold medal in a two-lap race and would have his chance, should he advance to the finals, at 12:05 p.m. Saturday.

One other ex-Bulldog will be competing in the early morning hours Friday. Lee Eppie will run for Botswana in the first round of the 4x400M relay at 4:05 a.m. Friday morning. Eppie and his Botswana teammates qualified for the Olympics with a first-place finish at the World Athletic Relays where they set a then-world leading 2:59.11.