Midland's Bryce Hoppel Sets American Record in 800 at Olympics

PARIS — Bryce Hoppel, who graduated from Midland High School, set the national record in the 800-meter run Saturday at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Somehow, it still wasn’t enough to earn him a medal.

Hoppel’s time of 1:41.67 was fractions of a second behind Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya (1:41.19), Marco Arop of Canada (1:41.20) and Djamel Sedjati of Algeria (1:41.50).

The world record in the 800 was set by Kenya’s David Rudisha in 2012 at 1:40.91.

Congressman August Pfluger released a statement congratulating Hoppel on his performance.

“Bryce, everyone in Texas-11, in fact everyone in America is so incredibly proud of you. You represent the absolute best in our country and you have represented the USA with honor at these Olympic Games!” Pfluger stated.

Hoppel became the first American to run the 800 in less than 1:42. He broke the previous record held by Donavan Brazier, who ran a 1:42.34 in 2019.

Hoppel was the Class 6A state champion in the 800 his senior year at Midland High in a time of 1:49.67.