A trip down memory lane at Mountcharles cinema night. PHOTOS: Siobhán McNamara
Search
18 Jan 2026
Search
18 Jan 2026
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Mark English. Photo: Sportsfile
Mark English lowered his own Irish indoor 800m record on Sunday in Luxembourg, in his first outing over the distance in 2026.
Just four days after setting a new national 600m record, the Finn Valley AC athlete won the men’s 800m at the CMCM Luxembourg Indoor Meeting in 1:44.65 - a time that also equalled the meeting record set by Josue Canales in 2025.
English had set the previous Irish indoor 800m record, 1:45.15, a year ago at the Millrose Games in New York and has certainly returned for 2026 looking in serious shape and form.
Out of lane 6 at the World Athletics Indoor Tour silver level meet held in the Coque Sport Center in Luxembourg, English was third after the opening lap and moved into second with a lap to go.
Content to let Maciej Wyderka from Poland lead out the race, English made a telling move with 100m to go and left little doubt as he cruised across the line, taking half-a-second out of his Irish record.
“It was a brilliant race,” English said. “I didn’t know that was a meeting record so I’m delighted with that.
“Hopefully I can continue this form now. I’m delighted.”
Wyderka was second in 1:45.38 with Poland’s Patryk Sieradzki third in 1:47.09.
It was field not short on quality with Netherlands’ Tony Van Diepen, a three-time European Indoor gold medallist who has won Olympic and World silver, fifth behind Belgian record holder Tibo De Smet.
On Wednesday night, English opened his indoor season by setting a new Irish indoor 600m record.
English clocked 1:15.80 at the Track and Field Live meet held at the National Indoor Area in Abbotstown, shaving almost a second off the 1:16.64 he ran in Boston two years ago.
Following a period at altitude training in the Sierra Nevada mountains, English returned home and won the St Stephen’s Day 5k at Finn Valley.
Read next: Champion Jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle secures first winner in Hong Kong
Last summer, the qualified medical doctor lowered his own Irish 800m outdoor record three times, going down to 1:43.37 before Cian McPhillips went to 1:42.15 on his way to finishing fourth at the World Championships in Tokyo.
English is due to compete in Meeting Indoor de Lyon in France on Saturday.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
