Mark English to skip Indoor Championships as Olympic qualification takes focus

Mark English will not compete at this weekend's National Senior Indoor Championships.

The Finn Valley AC athlete has decided to skip a bid for an 18^th National Senior gold and will not go to the World Indoors in Glasgow next month.

Qualification for a third Olympic Games this year in Paris will become the Letterkenny man's sole focus.

English, a four-time European medallist has started 2024 in encouraging mode.

The 30-year old doctor was third in the 800m at the Millrose Games in New York on Sunday, clocking 1:46.61. Behind USA’s Bryce Hoppel, who won in 1:45.54 and Kenyan Noah Kibet, who finished in 1:46.09, English upped the ante on the final lap of The Armory.

The Letterkenny native set a new Irish indoor 600m best six evenings previous in Boston. There, at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, English timed 1:16.64 to nudge ahead of Puerto Rico’s John Rivera for the win and low Zak Curran’s mark of 1:17.52 set in 2016.

English said in New York on Sunday that he would sit down with his coach Feidhlim Kelly to plot their course.

While a battle with Cian McPhillips for the Irish Indoor 800m title might well have seemed an enthralling, intriguing prospect for the attendance at the National Indoor Arena, English's focus will go towards the outdoor term with Paris the aim.

English holds the Irish 800m record both outdoor (1:44.70) and indoor (1:46.10).

Previously, English represented Ireland at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and the next edition, which took place in Tokyo in 2021.