ATHLETES SPEND YEARS training for the Olympics.
For a long time, virtually every waking hour is devoted to that one crucial event.
And yet sport is often cruel, and so in an instant, the dream can be taken away.
Plenty was expected of Mark English in Rio this year. Feats such as a bronze medal at the 2014 European Championships in the 800m and a silver medal at the 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships had heightened expectations.
However, English’s hopes of representing Ireland in Rio suffered a setback in March, all due to what the 23-year-old describes as a “freak” accident.
During a routine evening jog in UCD, English suffered a serious foot injury after running over a pothole.
As a result, he was forced to miss the World Indoor Championships in March, and English was by no means guaranteed to recover in time for the Olympics either.
It was a frustrating period, which severely tested the Donegal native’s perseverance and mental strength.
I’ve learned that grit is an extremely important trait for an athlete,” he tells The42. “After I did my foot earlier in the year, it would have been easy to just lay blame on others and to sit on the sidelines.”
In the end, however, English’s dream of competing in the Olympics for the first time was realised. It may not have been the perfect situation he was hoping for, but given what he had been through, for the UCD AC athlete to even be in Brazil was an achievement in itself.
Moreover, English was highly impressive in qualifying from his heat in the men’s 800m, before bowing out at the semi-final stage.
While he fell short after a brave run as a time of 1:45.09 left him fifth in his race and 17th overall, English ultimately left Rio with no regrets.
I was quite proud of having got to that stage, given where I had come from,” he says. “I broke my foot in March and I had to realign my goals at that stage. I had to accept that success for me would be just reaching the start line at the Olympics. Progressing through the heats would be a bonus.
“When you miss three months of training, it’s pretty hard to run a 1:44 or 1:43, which is what is necessary to make an Olympic final.
Being realistic, I was proud of where I’d come from and what my team had done to help me get there.
“You just have to accept that that is not where you are at the minute. I knew that I was not in the shape that I could have been in if I had the full year of training.
“But it’s still a fantastic experience to be on an Olympic starting line and then to make an Olympic semi-final — I was really happy with that because I’m getting the experience I need to succeed in future World Championships and Olympics.”
Following the intensity of the Olympics and all the preparation that comes with it, English is now taking a two-week break from training for “a mental rest more than a physical one”.
And for someone used to running and training so relentlessly, having to stop all of a sudden is not easy.
A few years ago, I would have been a guy who hated going out running no matter what pace it was,” English recalls. “Nowadays I love it, because it feels so much better.
“It’s hard not running, and I’d prefer to be — it’s a weird feeling, but I know it’s necessary.
Athletics is the release for me at the end of a day of work and that’s the way I like it. A lot of Irish athletes are the same from talking to a few of them in Rio — so if it works, don’t knock it.”
Away from the track, English is continuing his degree in Medicine in UCD. He completed only 50% of the fourth year of his course last year, owing to time off to prepare for the Olympics and will do the remaining 50% this year.
Otherwise, the middle-distance runner will as ever be focusing on bettering his previous athletics feats.
I’ll be back training towards the end of next week, gradually easing back into the miles, really building a base, becoming a lot fitter over longer distances and really building my endurance — that’s an area that my coach and I have agreed I can improve on.
“This year allowed me to see that a lot more, because I was able to finish races strong and I was running very well from 400m through to 600m, but I struggled to find a rhythm that was fast enough on the first lap of an 800m.
And I love finding ways that I can improve day to day, month to month and year to year. That’s why I love the sport.”
Furthermore, as he starts thinking about the prospect of Tokyo 2020, English doesn’t need to look too far for inspiration.
Thomas Barr, an athlete he knows well from pre-Olympics training sessions, produced a stunning display in Rio, finishing fourth in the 400m hurdles final, and coming agonisingly close to a medal in the process.
English says that the Waterford native’s display is one that other Irish athletes can now take inspiration from and potentially build on.
“I watched the semi-final with athletes from other countries and I think we were all in awe,” he recalls.
He was whiskers away from not just an Olympic medal, but an Olympic gold medal. That’s how close those margins were and to do it in that time was truly world class.
“It was really inspiring. I think a lot of Irish athletes felt the same way. And it shows it can be done. That was the consensus among the lot of us.
I know there’s been a lot of talk about doping and drugs in the sport and for someone like Thomas to come along and show that he can do it as a clean athlete is incredibly inspiring. It’s not like nobody believed he could have done it, but it is a different thing to go out and do it. It was great to see and I think we were all proud of him.
“You could predict great things for Thomas even after last year’s World Championships in Beijing. He came fifth in the semi-final but he had a terrible lane draw.
I think the stars just aligned rightly for him this year. He had good lane draws, he was in great shape and his training had come together well for him.
“I don’t think it was a surprise that he was capable of achieving it, but given the injury he had, I think we were all a bit shocked that he was able to do so well in such a short space of time (to recover), so it was a great story and something we can all look up to.”
Mark English is one of 11 athletes across Ireland and the UK on the Sky Academy Sport Scholarship programme, receiving financial support, mentoring and media training from Sky to help further his career.
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