IRELAND’S MARK ENGLISH set a new championship record as he stormed into the Men’s 800m final at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
English powered home in 1:43.49, breaking the championship record set in 1978.
It was a statement of intent from the Donegal man, who progresses to Thursday night’s final as the fastest qualifier after winning both his heat and semi-final.
Mark English turns on the style as he cruises to victory in the 800m semi-final, setting a new championship record of 1:43.49. It's a performance that further raises his expectations ahead of the final. pic.twitter.com/023LPNu9vM
It completed a perfect morning for team Ireland at Alexander Stadium, after Sophie Becker (400m) and Lauren Roy (200m) advanced to their respective semi-finals.
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Becker clocked a season’s best time of 52.28 seconds to finish third in her 400m heat. With the 13 fastest times qualifying for Thursday afternoon’s semi-finals, the Wexford woman squeezed through in 13th.
Sophie Becker holds on to take third place in her 400m heat as she finishes with a season's best time of 52.28, giving her every chance of progressing to the semi-final. pic.twitter.com/W7aW5J8Nba
“I’m really, really happy with that,” Becker told RTÉ Sport.
“Honestly I wasn’t feeling the best in my warm-up. I think I’ve spoken before that this season hasn’t gone to plan so to pull that out of the bag when it counted, I’m really happy.
“I just wanted to stay in it for a long as I could. I was very surprised to see a season’s best and a place in the semi.”
On the Irish support, the 29-year-old added: “You’d swear I was Olympic champion with the cheer I got! I always say it, the Irish are the best. They got me going. You have no idea the difference it makes.”
Lauren Roy finishes fourth in her 200m heat in a time of 23.20. She'll have to have to wait and see if that time is good enough to progress to the semi-finals.
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Mark English storms into 800m final with championship record at Europeans
LAST UPDATE | 1 hr ago
IRELAND’S MARK ENGLISH set a new championship record as he stormed into the Men’s 800m final at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
English powered home in 1:43.49, breaking the championship record set in 1978.
It was a statement of intent from the Donegal man, who progresses to Thursday night’s final as the fastest qualifier after winning both his heat and semi-final.
It completed a perfect morning for team Ireland at Alexander Stadium, after Sophie Becker (400m) and Lauren Roy (200m) advanced to their respective semi-finals.
Becker clocked a season’s best time of 52.28 seconds to finish third in her 400m heat. With the 13 fastest times qualifying for Thursday afternoon’s semi-finals, the Wexford woman squeezed through in 13th.
“I’m really, really happy with that,” Becker told RTÉ Sport.
“Honestly I wasn’t feeling the best in my warm-up. I think I’ve spoken before that this season hasn’t gone to plan so to pull that out of the bag when it counted, I’m really happy.
“I just wanted to stay in it for a long as I could. I was very surprised to see a season’s best and a place in the semi.”
On the Irish support, the 29-year-old added: “You’d swear I was Olympic champion with the cheer I got! I always say it, the Irish are the best. They got me going. You have no idea the difference it makes.”
Roy followed suit in the 200m. She finished fourth in her heat in 23.20 seconds, and with the 12 fastest qualifying, she placed sixth overall.
Roy will now join Rhasidat Adeleke in Wednesday evening’s semi-finals which get underway at 8.20pm.
Nicola Tuthill contests the Women’s Hammer final from 7.45pm.
More to follow.
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Athletics