Mark English smashes Irish 800m record to take victory in Hengelo
Mark English unleashed a spectacular performance to smash his own Irish 800m record and take victory at the FBK Games in Hengelo, the Netherlands on Monday evening, the 32-year-old becoming the first Irishman to run under 1:44 when clocking 1:43.92.
'It's a brilliant day,' he said. 'I always wanted to get the win and run 1:43 – I managed those two things today.' His time brought him home well clear of France's Yanis Meziane and Australia's Peyton Craig, who both clocked 1:44.32, with English making up huge ground over the final 200m, having sat off the pace over the first 400m, which was covered by the pacer in 49.20 seconds.
His time smashed the Irish record of 1:44.34 which he set in Bydgoszcz, Poland last month, English scoring his second victory of the season at a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting. He will race next over 800m on Thursday night at the Oslo Diamond League, where Rhasidat Adeleke will also be in action over 400m.
'It felt great,' he said of the win in Hengelo. 'I just wanted to run that race like a semi-final and I managed to do that. I stayed off the pace early and when I got to 600 I felt really good.
'I could see them fading and when I'm in good shape, I can always understand what the commentators are saying and I could hear him say there would be some tired legs in the home straight, it was nice to hear that. I thought I could catch them with about 80 metres left.'
English won his fifth European medal back in March, a bronze at the European Indoors in the Dutch town of Apeldoorn, and he has improved his fitness since following a five-week block of training in Flagstaff, Arizona.
'I went away training at altitude with my coach Justin Rinaldi, that went really well,' he said. 'All these times and wins take a massive team so I do want to thank everyone who helped me get here today. So many people have helped me achieve that.'
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