MARK ENGLISH HAS qualified for the semi-finals of the 800m at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, while Rhasidat Adeleke was unlucky to miss out on a spot in the 400m final.
In the early hours of this morning, English produced a brilliant run to clock a season’s best time of 1:44.76 in the heats, and secure automatic qualification for the semi-finals. English finished in third place and his time was just 5 hundredths of a second off his National 800m Record, which qualified him for the Tokyo Olympic Games last summer.
The 800m semi-finals get underway at 3am on Friday Irish time.
Rhasidat Adeleke narrowly missed out on a place in the 400m final, after a fourth-place finish in the semi-finals which sees her finish in ninth place in the World.
The talented 19-year-old, who is competing in her debut senior world championships, ran in the fastest of the three semi-finals and clocked an excellent time of 50.81, which was just 0.17 behind her national record of 50.70, and 0.16 off qualification for the final.
This was her third appearance at these championships after competing with the mixed 4x400m heat and the individual 400m heat. Adeleke is part of the panel for the women’s 4x100m taking place on Day 8 of these championships, with the starting team to be announced later this week.
Olympian Chris O’Donnell finished in seventh place in the men’s 400m semi-final, coming home in a time of 46.01.
O’Donnell has enjoyed a strong campaign at these championships, playing a crucial role in the mixed 4x400m heats and final, as well as producing superb individual race performances. The North Sligo AC runner will now turn his attention towards the European Championships next month.
Irish in action: World Athletics Championships, Day 7
- 1.10am Louise Shanahan 800m Heats
- 3.00am Mark English 800m Semi Final
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