IT WAS ANOTHER brilliant year for Irish athletes at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham this year, with Mark English bringing home his first gold medal in the 800m, and Kate O’Connor winning gold in the heptathlon.
Rhasidat Adeleke took silver in the 200m and Andrew Coscoran bronze in the 1500m.
Commentating on the live races on RTÉ was seasoned sports reporter Greg Allen, accompanied by colleagues David Matthews, Sean Blackwell, and David Gillick for post-race interviews.
Sonia O’Sullivan, Rob Heffernan and Derval O’Rourke gave analysis on the panel.
While all Irish achievements were duly noted and celebrated, Mark English’s long journey to achieve his first gold at the age of 33 inspired a great deal of joy – especially in Greg Allen, who passionately narrated the qualified doctor’s race to the finish line.
“English is ready to pounce,” he said into his headset from the press box of Alexander Stadium. “He’s got four bronze medals at European level. He has a silver medal as well. He wants to convert to gold.
“A medal is surely on… does Mark English have another gear to go past [Croatian Marino] Bloudek? [Spain's Mohamed] Attaoui is attacking and Mark English hits the front!
“It’s in the gold medal position for Ireland. It’s in front of him – it’s gold finally for Mark English!” Allen roared, rising from his seat to shake his fists in triumph. “He’s done it!”
The passion of Allen’s commentary, not confined to English’s race, has earned him helpings of praise online.
Has he been paying attention to this praise?
“When you’re actually out here doing it – and I’m not just saying this – I do try to just stay in the commentary preparation and commentary delivery mode,” he told The Journal from Birmingham Airport, where he is waiting to board a flight back to Dublin.
“Our sessions out here were about two and a half hours. We do the full morning session, and that starts at about 10 o’clock, and then the evening session starts at 7pm and goes on until 10pm. In between is pure preparation, like cramming for an exam.”
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From 10pm to 12am there’s another two hours of preparation, and then it’s up in the morning at 6am for another two hours.
“So I didn’t really have that much time,” he said. “I was aware of it [the reaction], gut I also didn’t want it to take away from my concentration.
“It’s lovely that there was a great reaction to the commentary on Mark English, but that was partly because of RTÉ Sport multimedia reporter Katie Kirk, who just happened to do that [film the commentators' reaction].
“Had that not happened, I don’t know if anything would have happened regarding the commentary going as viral as it did.”
The preparation for commentating on these types of major sporting events is akin to cramming for your Leaving Cert or college exams, he said. “Mostly you’re just either cramming or commentating and trying to get through the week and hope to have the moments like the ones I had with Mark and Rhasidat, Andrew, and Kate, because that keeps you going.
“There are real surges that keep you going and keep the energy levels up, and at the end of it all, you’re ready to just crash.”
Watching Mark English win his first gold medal was a particularly big moment for Allen, however, who first met the runner when the latter was 20. In 2014,when English was 21, he watched English take home his first bronze medal.
Mark English of Ireland celebrates with the gold medal after winning the Men's 800m Final on day four of the 2026 European Athletics Championship. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
“It was terrific and very, very gratifyingly enjoyable to see Mark take the gold medal after five medals, which are bronze and one silver, over the last 12 years,” he said.
“In Mark’s case, I’ve witnessed all of his medals. I’ve been there for all of his medals either as reporter or as a television commentator, so I was certainly revved up for it. I had a feeling he had a better than 50-50 chance of taking the gold medal.”
As for the actual 800m race, Allen described the conditions and lead-up that both heaped pressure upon English but gave him the opening he needed to storm ahead and clinch the gold.
“800m races, they’re like a mixture between middle-distance races and a sprint,” he explained, “and the chances of a really difficult argy-bargy which can really upset your race.
“The thing about the 800m is that it’s like a sprint race but it’s not raced in lanes, and it brings with it a huge amount of an attritional element.”
Croatian athlete Marino Bloudek, who led out front before he was overtaken by the ultimate champion, led the grouping into a more streamlined line of runners at the start of the second lap – “a blessing for Mark”, Allen said, as it gave English the bit of track needed to pounce.
“And he did, because he was the best in the field. I think he was always going to win because he was the best athlete in the field.”
“It was a great two minutes for Mark. For me, I was just emotionally involved to some degree because literally I’ve known him since he was 20 years of age, and the talent line that he has always been there. That’s the thing.
“There’s no surprise that he is a gold medallist at European level because when he finished fifth in the World Junior Championships back in 2012 – that converts to someone who should be challenging at some stage in their career for a gold medal at the European Championships. It took 14 years. So he certainly took a while getting there.
“But when he got there, it was a spectacular race and also the fact that he set a championship record in the semifinal the day before, a championship record which had stood for 48 years.”
Thirty-three is by no means old, but English was the oldest athlete in his heat by six years.
“He’s now running the best he’s ever run because he’s got his training right,” Allen said.
It’s an exciting time for English, but he has a medical career on hold as he competes in European and world championships, Allen noted.
“I presume he will step back into becoming a medical doctor full-time at some point. At what point do you step off and do that, and you decide that the retirement moment comes?
“At the moment he’s running better than ever,” he continued, mentioning various upcoming championships English has a real shot at winning. “It would seem odd to quit when you’re at your peak.
“But it is complicated. He has his medical career on hold for seven years, and when you think that he has topped the podium with doing that, it’s quite an amazing commitment that he’s made, and he has finally got the reward for it.”
As for Allen, who chose to report on athletics and golf in the late 1980s, he’s looking forward to the Ryder Cup in Adare next year.
Both sports have had a massive upsurge in Irish successes in the last 20 to 30 years. “So, who’s the luckiest guy of all? Because when I chose two sports then, one or either might not have been big enough to be a correspondent in, but combine the two of them, and I’ve had a fantastic run.
“I’m very, very lucky, and very grateful to the athletes and the golfers who’ve given me these stories because I absolutely love telling them.”
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'I've witnessed all his medals': RTÉ's Greg Allen on commentating Mark English's gold win
IT WAS ANOTHER brilliant year for Irish athletes at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham this year, with Mark English bringing home his first gold medal in the 800m, and Kate O’Connor winning gold in the heptathlon.
Rhasidat Adeleke took silver in the 200m and Andrew Coscoran bronze in the 1500m.
Commentating on the live races on RTÉ was seasoned sports reporter Greg Allen, accompanied by colleagues David Matthews, Sean Blackwell, and David Gillick for post-race interviews.
Sonia O’Sullivan, Rob Heffernan and Derval O’Rourke gave analysis on the panel.
While all Irish achievements were duly noted and celebrated, Mark English’s long journey to achieve his first gold at the age of 33 inspired a great deal of joy – especially in Greg Allen, who passionately narrated the qualified doctor’s race to the finish line.
“English is ready to pounce,” he said into his headset from the press box of Alexander Stadium. “He’s got four bronze medals at European level. He has a silver medal as well. He wants to convert to gold.
“A medal is surely on… does Mark English have another gear to go past [Croatian Marino] Bloudek? [Spain's Mohamed] Attaoui is attacking and Mark English hits the front!
“It’s in the gold medal position for Ireland. It’s in front of him – it’s gold finally for Mark English!” Allen roared, rising from his seat to shake his fists in triumph. “He’s done it!”
The passion of Allen’s commentary, not confined to English’s race, has earned him helpings of praise online.
Has he been paying attention to this praise?
“When you’re actually out here doing it – and I’m not just saying this – I do try to just stay in the commentary preparation and commentary delivery mode,” he told The Journal from Birmingham Airport, where he is waiting to board a flight back to Dublin.
“Our sessions out here were about two and a half hours. We do the full morning session, and that starts at about 10 o’clock, and then the evening session starts at 7pm and goes on until 10pm. In between is pure preparation, like cramming for an exam.”
From 10pm to 12am there’s another two hours of preparation, and then it’s up in the morning at 6am for another two hours.
“So I didn’t really have that much time,” he said. “I was aware of it [the reaction], gut I also didn’t want it to take away from my concentration.
“It’s lovely that there was a great reaction to the commentary on Mark English, but that was partly because of RTÉ Sport multimedia reporter Katie Kirk, who just happened to do that [film the commentators' reaction].
“Had that not happened, I don’t know if anything would have happened regarding the commentary going as viral as it did.”
The preparation for commentating on these types of major sporting events is akin to cramming for your Leaving Cert or college exams, he said. “Mostly you’re just either cramming or commentating and trying to get through the week and hope to have the moments like the ones I had with Mark and Rhasidat, Andrew, and Kate, because that keeps you going.
“There are real surges that keep you going and keep the energy levels up, and at the end of it all, you’re ready to just crash.”
Watching Mark English win his first gold medal was a particularly big moment for Allen, however, who first met the runner when the latter was 20. In 2014,when English was 21, he watched English take home his first bronze medal.
“It was terrific and very, very gratifyingly enjoyable to see Mark take the gold medal after five medals, which are bronze and one silver, over the last 12 years,” he said.
“In Mark’s case, I’ve witnessed all of his medals. I’ve been there for all of his medals either as reporter or as a television commentator, so I was certainly revved up for it. I had a feeling he had a better than 50-50 chance of taking the gold medal.”
As for the actual 800m race, Allen described the conditions and lead-up that both heaped pressure upon English but gave him the opening he needed to storm ahead and clinch the gold.
“800m races, they’re like a mixture between middle-distance races and a sprint,” he explained, “and the chances of a really difficult argy-bargy which can really upset your race.
“The thing about the 800m is that it’s like a sprint race but it’s not raced in lanes, and it brings with it a huge amount of an attritional element.”
Croatian athlete Marino Bloudek, who led out front before he was overtaken by the ultimate champion, led the grouping into a more streamlined line of runners at the start of the second lap – “a blessing for Mark”, Allen said, as it gave English the bit of track needed to pounce.
“And he did, because he was the best in the field. I think he was always going to win because he was the best athlete in the field.”
“It was a great two minutes for Mark. For me, I was just emotionally involved to some degree because literally I’ve known him since he was 20 years of age, and the talent line that he has always been there. That’s the thing.
“There’s no surprise that he is a gold medallist at European level because when he finished fifth in the World Junior Championships back in 2012 – that converts to someone who should be challenging at some stage in their career for a gold medal at the European Championships. It took 14 years. So he certainly took a while getting there.
“But when he got there, it was a spectacular race and also the fact that he set a championship record in the semifinal the day before, a championship record which had stood for 48 years.”
Thirty-three is by no means old, but English was the oldest athlete in his heat by six years.
“He’s now running the best he’s ever run because he’s got his training right,” Allen said.
It’s an exciting time for English, but he has a medical career on hold as he competes in European and world championships, Allen noted.
“I presume he will step back into becoming a medical doctor full-time at some point. At what point do you step off and do that, and you decide that the retirement moment comes?
“At the moment he’s running better than ever,” he continued, mentioning various upcoming championships English has a real shot at winning. “It would seem odd to quit when you’re at your peak.
“But it is complicated. He has his medical career on hold for seven years, and when you think that he has topped the podium with doing that, it’s quite an amazing commitment that he’s made, and he has finally got the reward for it.”
As for Allen, who chose to report on athletics and golf in the late 1980s, he’s looking forward to the Ryder Cup in Adare next year.
Both sports have had a massive upsurge in Irish successes in the last 20 to 30 years. “So, who’s the luckiest guy of all? Because when I chose two sports then, one or either might not have been big enough to be a correspondent in, but combine the two of them, and I’ve had a fantastic run.
“I’m very, very lucky, and very grateful to the athletes and the golfers who’ve given me these stories because I absolutely love telling them.”
Written by Emma Hickey and posted on TheJournal.ie
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