English delivers top ten performance
Mark English (UCD), had to settle for a fifth place finish in his 800m semi-final in 1:45.55 but finished an excellent 10th overall. Bosnia’s Amel Tuka, one of the favourites for the gold, won the semi-final in 1:44.84 – English’s personal best time.
“It was much easier than yesterday because I was focusing on running splits, trying to run 52 flat (through 400m),” commented the Letterkenny man afterwards in comparison to his first round heat where he finished fifth in 1:46.69.
“So I was just off it, I tied up a small bit on that last 50 but I don’t think, given the injury I had this season, I was going to do any more than that,” he continued. “These (semi-finals) usually go 51/52 first lap. I was trying to keep it as even as possible. I knew if I ran 1:44 I’d get through but it wasn’t out there today."
“It feels good, sometimes you’re judged on whether you made it through each round, and it’s judged as a failure if you fail at the semi-final stage, but if you came 11th in the marathon it’d be a great race, so that’s a good run. I’ll use that as motivation for the winter. I think if I had a full season of training, I would have had a better go at the final, I may not have made it but I definitely wouldn’t have run quicker.
"There’s a lot of mind games going on, it’s like a game of poker out there before the start, people judging each other’s emotions and expressions and trying to make the other person feel like you’re at ease, but I enjoy that aspect of it. The race starts before you get on the line.”
Thomas Barr and Mark English will combine later on in the week to run in the heats of the 4x400m relay heats on Saturday.