MARK ENGLISH is in seventh heaven after claiming the Irish 800m title for the seventh time this evening.
By Chris McNulty at Morton Stadium
English came with a customary late burst over the final 100 metres to win in 1:48.15 – the quickest time of all of his wins here.
English edged out John Fitzsimons of Kildare AC (1:48.24) with Blarney/Inniscara’s Dean Cronin third in 1:49.24.
“It’s such a relief to get it,” English told Donegal Daily/Donegal Sport Hub.
“It was more like a pace race that I’ve been doing in Europe, so it worked out nicely. You get a lot of ranking points for winning a national title, so that’s good. I didn’t want to hit the wind on the back straight, so I just tucked in and kicked on over the last 100 metres.
Two years of injury woe were ended in March when he won bronze at the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
The old magic was back in the heels at the Emirates Arena as English took third spot, behind Alvaro de Arriba of Spain and Great Britain’s Jamie Webb, in 1:47.39.
And now English is the Irish king again with designs on qualifying for the 2019 World Championships in Doha.
Yesterday, the Letterkeny man breezed through his heat in 1:53.60 and he had to work a little for gold here, but still came out on top.