Sarah Healy breaks personal best to finish second in Paris Diamond League
Sarah Healy produced another stellar performance to break her personal best and finish second over 1500m at the Paris Diamond League on Friday night, the Dubliner clocking 3:57.02.
Healy's previous best was the 3:57.46 she ran at the same meeting in Paris last July, but having finished seventh in that race, this marked another step forward in what has been a superb year to date.
The race was won by Kenya's Nelly Chepchirchir in 3:57.02, with Birke Haylom of Ethiopia finishing third in 3:57.50 and Georgia Hunter Bell, the Olympic bronze medallist and a training partner of Healy's in Manchester, sixth in 3:58.06.
The race was a messy one, with 17 athletes bunching over the opening laps as 800m was reached in a swift 2:05.
Healy played a patient game and then coasted into contention for victory on the back straight, unleashing a strong finish on the inside to move into second in the closing metres.
Having won European Indoor gold over 3000m in March, Healy has been in sparkling form through the early part of the outdoor season, finishing third at the Rabat Diamond League over 3000m and taking victory in Rome over 1500m. As the second fastest Irishwoman in history at 1500m, she will likely have Ciara Mageean's national record of 3:55.87 in her sights later in the summer.
Elsewhere, Mark English produced the second fastest time of his career to again dip under 1:44 in the 800m, the 32-year-old Donegal man clocking 1:43.98 to finish sixth in a loaded field.
With 13 men on the track, it was crowded at the break from lanes and English wisely chose to stay out of trouble and run at the back as the leaders passed 400m in a rapid 49.15 seconds.
He began to creep through the field on the second lap, navigating heavy traffic, and turned in a typically strong last 100m to claw his way up to sixth place.
The race was won by Spain's Mohamed Attaoui in 1:42.73, with English's occasional training partner Josh Hoey of the US second in 1:43.00.
After winning his fifth European medal in Apeldoorn back in March, English came into the outdoor season in the form of his life, his run in Paris being his fifth time under 1:45 in the past four weeks.
He will race in Ostrava, Czechia next Tuesday and then complete a spell of altitude training ahead of the London Diamond League on 19 July.
English has broken his own Irish outdoor 800m record twice already this season, becoming the first Irishman to go under 1:44 when clocking 1:43.92 in Hengelo last week.
He finished seventh at the Oslo Diamond League three days later and while the depth in the men's 800m is better than ever, he's hopeful this might be the year to reach his first global final.
'There's a faster time in me,' he said.
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