Mark English to compete at World Athletics Ultimate Championships

The Finn Valley AC athlete skipped last week’s Diamond League final in Brussels to focus on the Ultimates.

English won a memorable European gold in Birmingham last month, going 1:45.26 in the final at the Alexander Stadium.

Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi from Kenya is among the leading lights in the 800m list while Marino Bloudek, the European silver medal winner, is included. The entry list is a who’s who of the world’s leading two-lappers, although USA teenage sensation Cooper Lutkenhaus is an absentee.

The Ultimate Championship will bring together Olympic champions, world champions, Wanda Diamond League winners and the year’s best-performing athletes across 28 disciplines during three action-packed evenings of competition in the Hungarian capital.

A record prize pot of US$10 million (€8.6m) is on offer, with individual champions earning US$150,000 (€129,000).

English is one of three Irish athletes on the start list alongside Sharlene Mawdsley in the 400m and Rhasidat Adeleke in the 200m. Mawdsley, returning from an injury that kept her out of the Europeans, was victorious over 400m in Rovereto, Italy on Tuesday evening.

It has been a superb summer for English, who lowered his own PB to 1:42.97 in July and slammed down several notable performances on the Diamond League circuit.

In Birmingham, English kicked superbly in the last 100m to win gold in 1:45.26, having set a European Athletics Championship best of 1:43.49 in his semi-final - wiping out the 1:43.84 clocked by Olaf Beyer in the 1978 final.

The prize pot for the Ultimate Championships includes €129,000 for first place, €64,500 for second and €34,000 for third, with the prize pool across the championships totalling €8.6m.