Mark English (Finn Valley AC) produced another sensational performance to become the first Irishman to ever break 1:44 for 800m this evening at the FBK Games in Hengelo, the Netherlands.
The 32-year-old sat off the early pace, before unleashing his trademark finishing kick down the home straight to take another hugely impressive victory and clock a new national record time of 1:43.92, bettering his previous best of 1:44.34 set just ten days ago in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
It is the Donegal man’s third win of the outdoor season, having also won in Bydgoszcz and at the Sound Running Track Fest meet in Los Angeles last month. Both this evening’s meet and the meet in Poland were part of World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series.
English, a five-time European medallist, has continued to progress since his successful indoor season and will hope to continue to build momentum as the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September draw closer.
Earlier in the evening Orla Comerford (Raheny Shamrock AC) won the Para Athletics Women’s 100m in a season’s best time of 11.96 seconds (-1.2m/s). This is just 0.06 seconds off the Paralympic bronze medallist’s personal best.
