Mark English. Morgan Treacy/INPHO

Mark English wins 800m bronze at European Indoor Championships

The medal is Ireland’s first at the European Indoors since the 2019 championships in Glasgow.

IRELAND’S MARK ENGLISH powered to a brilliant bronze medal in the 800m final at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Apeldoorn.

The medal is Ireland’s first at the European Indoors since the 2019 championships in Glasgow.

English sat in fourth for the majority of the race but finished strong to push into third place on the final stretch, crossing in 1:45.46 as he held off Italy’s Catalin Tecuceanu.

Samuel Chapple of the Netherlands was a surprise gold medallist at 1:44.88, with Belgium’s Elliot Crestan second at 1:44.92.

“It was pretty good out there,” English told RTÉ. “I really wanted the gold but I’m really happy to come away with a medal, you have to be at this level, so I’m really thankful and as time goes on I’ll really start to appreciate what I’ve done.

“I’m almost 32 years of age and to get another medal at European level, it’s brilliant and it’s a real credit to everyone who helped me put in the work because it’s not easy giving the time commitment to prepare for a championships like this.

“It’s been an amazing last 18 months really and I’m thankful I haven’t got injured first of all, that’s probably the big one, and that I’m just able to make the startline. There’s been times in the past where I’ve had injuries or illness, so it’s a good day when you can come away with something.”

The Donegal athlete now has three European Indoor medals to his name, having won silver in 2015 and bronze in 2019.

Earlier, Andrew Coscoran finished sixth in the 3000m final at 7:51.77, with Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen taking gold at 7:48.37.

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