IRELAND’S MARK ENGLISH has fallen short in his bid to make the 800m final at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
English finished seventh in the third semi-final in a time of 1:45.14.
Another new season’s best wasn’t enough for the Donegal man: he started brightly and was right in the mix at the bell, but fell back down the home straight.
“I gave everything I could,” he told Virgin Media afterwards. “I had two options really: one, go out and try to stay with the pace, or two, come from behind and risk coming through traffic.
“I took option one. I did die a little bit, but 1:45.1 is a good time, a season’s best.
“Coming into these championships, my expectations were to make it to the semi-final to be honest and I have achieved that. When I reflect on this year, I think I’ll be happy with where I’ve come from.”
Kenyan 19-year-old Emmanuel Wanyonyiwon it out in a 1:43.83.
“It’s brilliant to be out there mixing it with these guys, they’re the world’s best for a reason,” English added after his fourth world level semi-final.
“One day I might get that break, who knows? I’ll have to get back training hard again. Ideally I’d have a couple of races leading into the championships where I was running well but given the preparation I’ve had, I’m happy enough with that.
“I think that’s the toughest world semi-final I’ve ever competed in. I don’t think I ever remember 1:44.3 being the fastest non-automatic qualifier. Tough competition, but I’m excited for next year too.”
English had previously produced a season’s best of 1:45.71 to finish fourth in Tuesday’s second heat — and then faced a nerve-wracking wait before his place in the semi-finals was confirmed.
Earlier this evening, Brian Fay failed to make the men’s 5000m final.
The 24-year-old Dubliner crossed in 16th place in a time of 13:42:16.
“It just didn’t really work out in my favour,” Fay reflected. “I sat in for the first three or four kilometres and then the last kilometre came and I just didn’t have the legs to put myself up there and hold on.
“It’s disappointing because I’ve proved that I can run fast this season, but I just need to be a little bit more competitive when it comes to the championship races”.
“I’ve loads to take from these championships. It’s a learning curve and it’s great to be a part of such a strong field, but I’d hope to be more competitive on the world stage going forward. That’s the goal, but if you’d told me that I’d run at the world championships and break the Irish 5000m record this season, then I’d have to be happy with that.
“I was expecting more this week, but I’ll look to use the experience and hit the two championships well next year.”
