Mark English (Finn Valley AC) won bronze in the final of the men’s 800m at the European Athletics Championships in Munich this evening.
English ran a tactically excellent race to cross the line in third in a time of 1.45.19.
The qualified doctor positioned himself well in the first lap which was ran at a conservative pace before Spain’s Mariano Garcia moved to the front.
Throughout the race English was always in the medal positions and ran a strong final 100m to ensure his podium place.
The race was won by Garcia, with world 1500m champion Jake Wightman of Great Britain winning silver.
English previously medalled at these championships eight years ago in Zurich when he took bronze as a 22-year-old.
Mark English gets back to his best in 2022
The Donegal man has had a great season.
Last month English finished tenth overall at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon missing out on a final spot by the narrowest of margins.
His 1.44.76 clocking at those championships was his second fastest time ever, 0.05s off his national record.
English is now coached by Feidhlim Kelly and is a member of the esteemed Dublin Track Club. Since joining the group, he has gone from strength to strength and will feel like his best days are ahead of him.
He will now target the automatic qualifying time for the World Championships in Budapest which is just below his PB and has been set at 1.44.70.
English wasn’t the only Irish athlete who produced an epic performance on the final day of action at the Olympiastadion.
Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) finished fifth in the final of the 100m Hurdles.
The Limerick woman ran a time of 12.86s in her first ever European final apperance.
In her semi-final earlier in the evening, Lavin clocked a new personal best of 12.79s, 0.05s faster than she has ever recorded before.
The 28-year old has had a fantastic season making a world indoor final, world outdoor semi-final and now a European final.
Efrem Gidey (Clonliffe Harriers) ran the race of his life to finish sixth in the 10,000m final.
Up until 500m to go Gidey was still in with a shout of winning a medal but faded as the pace quickened once again.
Nonetheless it is a superb performance from the 21-year-old who broke 28 minutes for the distance crossing the line in a time of 27.59.22.
Hiko Tonosa (Dundrum South Dublin AC) came home in 18th place.
It has been a very good championships for Ireland. Not only were two medals won by English and Mageean but a record number of top eight finishes were achieved.
