Teresa McDaid on 36 minutes of medal magic for Irish athletes at European Indoors

In 36 magical minutes on Sunday in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Irish athletes won three medals at the European Athletics Indoor Championships. 

Mark English bagged bronze in the 800m before Sarah Healy won gold in the 3000m and Kate O’Connor added a superb bronze in the pentathlon.

All in the space of just over half-an-hour.

The near misses - and there have been a few of late - had continued when Sarah Lavin finished an agonising fourth over the 60m hurdles on Friday night.

O’Connor looked as if she might have to settle for fourth, too, but a magnificent 800m saw her edge Jade O’Dowda to the bronze medal and Healy banished some haunting championship memories with a memorable last lap to win the 3000m gold.

All that with English basking in the glory of his latest - a fifth, to be exact - European medal.

“It was important to keep the consistence after last year in Rome at the European (outdoor) Championships, which was such a breakthrough,” says Letterkenny AC’s Teresa McDaid, the senior operations manager of the Irish team.

“The fact that the medals were in such close succession was so exciting and the medal ceremonies were the same. There was just so much going on and it felt really good for the fans, who sat through it and were rewarded too.

“There is one thing being well-ranked going into a Championships, but it’s another thing to deliver. Before the Championships, I would’ve said five medals for us. We got three, Sarah Lavin was fourth and in the women’s 400m, I felt that Sharlene Mawdsley (who had to withdraw injured) might have managed a bronze.”

McDaid was English’s coach for the early part of his career.

A bronze medal for the 31-year-old came as no surprise.

“How many times has Mark English been dismissed?” she says. “It would be foolish for anyone to dismiss Mark English. For me, his strength has always been his tactical ability and his awareness. 

“Mark has always had a great ability to run sideways and still go forwards.

“If you look at his tactical moves, he has the confidence to wait for the move. The final; was a busy 800m, but Mark’s longevity is remarkable.

“Mark is very cool, calm and collected, but underneath it all there is a passion. I felt that the indoor record he broke this year (1:45.15) was very significant.

“There will always be opportunities and tactics still plays a huge part in the 800m.”

English ran for UCD AC during his time studying medicine at the Belfield campus and moved to Finn Valley AC just before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

English is now working with Australian 800m coach Justin Rinaldi having previously worked under Nic Bideau, Steve Magness and Feidhlim Kelly. For a period in 2014, he effectively coached himself, and is now operating under Rinaldi’s guidance with a group of 800m runners.

“If you want to do it, you will find a way to do it,” McDaid said. “I look at Mark’s application in academics and sport and then look at the rowers and how many are similarly successful. People can follow their dreams and their passion if they find a way.

“It’s the same with Mark and changing his coaching position; you have to admire people who go out there and see if there is something else for them. They get out of the comfort zone. It’s back to the old definition of madness being to do the same ting over and over and expect the same results.”

Mark English with Sarah Healy and Kate O'Connor in Apeldoorn. Photo: Sportsfile

When Amhrán na bhFiann blared around the Omnisport on Sunday after Healy was presented with her 3000m gold, McDaid had a message for her staff: “This doesn’t happen often. Take it all in.

She says now: “It was a very special moment. It was just amazing. Sarah’s run was textbook. She didn’t put a foot wrong at all. She protected the space and moved on. She is a class act”.

The injury to Mawdsley and an illness for Phil Healy opened the door for Arlene Crossan to run in the women’s 4x400m final. The experience, McDaid feels, will be a real boost for the Finn Valley AC athlete.

She says: “It has bene so good to see Arlene Crossan come back. She has come through horrible injury stuff and there has been little niggles. I was with Arlene and a junior team some years ago when she couldn’t run due to an injury.

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"Last year wasn’t a nice year, but she sustained it and she got there. Arlene hadn’t been in a call room for years and it reiterated the need for opportunity if you want to run beyond championships. Being a reserve isn’t easy and all of that happened so quickly for Arlene on Sunday so it was great to see her have that wherewithal to run a very good leg.

On now, then, for McDaid and an Irish team to Nanjing in China and the World Indoors before they move to the outdoor season, with the big dance there the World Championships in Tokyo in September.

“We’re all very excited for the rest of the year,” McDaid says.