Mark English breaks Irish 800m record and books Olympics ticket
English Picture: ©inpho/morgan Mark Treacy Ireland’s
Mark English produced a superb run to break his Irish 800m record and finish a close second in 1:44.69 at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland on Tuesday evening, a Continental Tour gold meeting.
The Donegal man carved two hundredths of a second off his previous record of 1:44.71 which he ran in Castellon, Spain three years ago, and crucially dipped under the automatic Olympic qualifying standard of 1:44.70.
English ran a patient race, passing 400m in fifth but he looked back to his brilliant best in the closing stages, powering up to second down the home straight and finishing just behind Sweden’s Andreas Kramer (1:44.65). English had faced disappointment at the recent European Championships in Rome, finishing fifth in his heat and getting eliminated, but with his place now assured at a third Olympic Games, he is rounding into form ahead of the apex of the season.
It was also a big night in Turku for Cathal Doyle, the Clonliffe Harrier kicking to victory in the 1500m in a PB of 3:34.09 ahead of fellow Dubliner Luke McCann (3:34.32). While both fell short of the automatic Olympic standard of 3:33.50, the bonus points earned will ensure they improve their world ranking and boost their chances of securing a spot in Paris via the quota system. McCann is currently 39th on the Road to Paris rankings and Doyle is 49th, with the top 45 set to earn a place when the qualification window closes at the end of June.
Thomas Barr is another who’s in a race against time to secure sufficient ranking points and the Waterford athlete improved his chances by finishing fourth in the 400m hurdles in Turku, clocking 49.46. The race was won by Estonia’s Rasmus Magi in 48.42. Before the race Barr was 53rd on the world rankings, with the top-40 earning a spot in Paris.
Sarah Lavin had a fine run to finish third in the 100m hurdles in a season’s best of 12.66 (+1.6m/s), a race won by USA’s Nia Ali in 12.48. Earlier in the evening Lavin finished third in her heat in 12.83. Lavin has already qualified for Paris via the Irish record of 12.62 she ran in the world semi-final in Budapest last year, her run in Turku the second fastest of her career.
Louise Shanahan put the disappointment of the European Championships behind her when finishing 10th in the women’s 800m in a season’s best of 2:02.59, two seconds quicker than she ran in Rome last week. She is currently 52nd on the Road to Paris rankings, with 48 spots available.