A Munich masterclass: Mark English ‘chuffed’ with European bronze

A masterclass from Mark English reminded the athletics world - as he grabbed the fourth European medal of his career - of the Finn Valley AC man’s standing on Sunday evening in Munich.

English landed the 800m bronze medal, showing showed his experience track craft. He was never outside the podium places around two laps of Munich’s iconic Olympiastadion.

From the get-go, the laser-eyed English signalled his intent and the Donegal ace, eight years after his first, is a European medalist again.

“I feel pretty chuffed,” English said.

“It went exactly how I thought it would from an objective point of view. I'm really happy to come away with a medal.”

Mark English wins European 800m bronze

The Finn Valley AC man delivered a superb final race to earn a place on the podium in Munich

English is the first Irishman to become a multiple medal at these Championships. Sonia O’Sullivan, Derval O’Rourke and Ciara Mageean - who scooped the 1500m silver on Friday - are the only others who can answer that illustrious roll call.

In 2014, English was the bronze medalist at these Championships in Zurich when finishing behind Adam Kszczot and Artur Kuciapski.

English also has a pair of indoor medals at European level, silver in 2015 and bronze in 2019.

Mariano García of Spain won gold in a new personal best 1:44.85 with Great Britain’s Jake Wightman - the World and Commonwealth Games 1500m champion - leaving with silver with a 1:44.91, a season’s best.

English, who is coached by Feidhlim Kelly, hung onto the leaders over various points of the race.

Initially, Simone Barontini of Italy made the running. When García flicked the switch just before the bell, English was well poised. The 29-year-old held his place on the inside and was a comfortable third. Andreas Kramer and Benjamin Robert valiantly attempted to close the gap down the final 100m, but English showed all of his excellence to cross the line in third.

English said: “I had a feeling Garcia would make the same move as he did yesterday. I was looking up at the screen waiting for him, I could see him making his move so I just moved to the front. I figured if I could slot in behind him the whole way that would be a good move.

“I was quite goosed out there tonight. It was difficult to hold on, so I'm delighted that I came away with a medal.

“I was absolutely flat out, there was nothing else I could give.”

Last month at the World Championships in Oregon, English clocked the fastest Championship 800m ever by an Irish athlete when running 1:44.76 - a time that was only 0.05 seconds off his own Irish record, set last summer when qualifying for the Olympic Games.

After showing well at the Worlds, where he was only two tenths of a second off a place in the final, English made no secret of his desire to medal in Munich.

Next year’s World Championships in Belgrade and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris will quickly come onto the radar of English, a qualified medical doctor.

“I guess I still have that hunger for it, that's always the big thing I think,” English said.

“I have heard from older athletes that the hunger could go, it's tough to keep it up.

“I had a good year this year. I came tenth in the World Championships and I came third here, so I'll count that as an achievement for this year. I'm really happy.’

“I just need to power on now and try and get the qualification for the worlds next year. I think the standard has gone up again, so I'll try and get as many ranking points as I can while I'm in good shape.”