MARK ENGLISH HAS failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the 800m at the World Athletics Championship, after finishing in fifth place in his heat.
The qualification format for the semi-finals sees the automatic spots go to the top three finishers in each heat, along with the six fastest losers from all of the heats.
With the top six fastest loser spots already filled, English’s time of 1:48:01 puts him out of the running for the semi-finals in London.
English began the first lap brightly and seemed to be keeping pace with the leading pack, but despite his attempts to put on a sprint finish on the final stretch of the second lap, the gap was too much.
Nijel Amos of Botswana came home in first place, with Pierre-Ambroise Bosse (France) and Poland’s Adam Kszczot finishing behind him.
Speaking after the race, a disappointed English spoke about the impact of injury problems on his training preparation.
“I knew it would be a sprint finish. There was nobody in that field who front-runs races usually so I wanted to make sure I had enough left for the last 200m.
That wasn’t there today unfortunately. I’ve kind of struggled with that all season with my injury but that’s the way these things go sometimes unfortunately.”
He added:
I go into every race thinking I can beat everybody. I knew Nijel Amos was the big name this year and he had a few cards that others didn’t. I’ve beaten the others before but it was a matter of not getting the training I wanted to have done this year.
“I didn’t have it over the last 200m and that’s where you really need it, so that’s what it came down to in the end.
“The plan was to make sure that I had energy left and I know what I have to do to make sure that I’ve got energy left but when it’s not there, there’s nothing you can do unfortunately.
“I just have to reset the button, set new goals for next year and move on.”
- Reporting from Will Downing in London
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
