Mark English showed his prowess as a Championship racer to bag European Indoor bronze in Apeldoorn – the FIFTH European medal of his career.
The Finn Valley AC man, once again, demonstrated his track craft to take the 800m bronze behind Samuel Chapel and Eliott Crestan.
English clocked 1:45.46, the third fastest indoor time of his career.
This is a third European Indoor Championship medal of his career and the fifth overall thanks to a stunning final lap by the Letterkenny native.
Dutchman Chapple delighted the home support when winning in 1:44.88 with Crestan, the bronze medallist at the last edition of these Championships in Istanbul two years ago – and the World Indoor bronze medal winner last year – second in 1:44.92.
Letterkenny man English was content to settle in third for the most part, but found himself briefly put to fifth.
As he came around the final bend, English pressed the gas to get ahead of Catalin Tecuceanu of Italy and seal his place on the podium.
English, now coached by Australian Justin Rinaldi of the Fast 8 Track Club, had shown every inch of his big-race experience and tactical know-how to earn one of the six places in the final over the previous two days.
As the lights dimmed in the area, a stone-faced English emerged from the warm-up area and he started out of lane four. The Irish supporters made their presence felt and the noise lifted as English rounded the bend to the back straight.
The Irish eyes were beaming as English dipped his head across the line to seal his fifth major medal. Only Sonia O’Sullivan, with 12, is ahead of him in the pecking order.
The now 31-year-old doctor had been in European senior finals four times previously. Each time, he delivered a medal.
In Glasgow six years ago, English won bronze, nestling in behind Alvaro de Arriba of Spain and Great Britain’s Jamie Webb. That was five years after he scooped a superb silver at the O2 Arena in Prague in 2014, when he edged out Thijmen Kipers of Netherlands by just 0.05 of a second to finish behind only Marcin Lewandowski from Poland.
English has also won European 800m medals outdoors, in 2014 and 2022 in Zurich and Munich respectively.
In the second of Saturday’s semi-finals, English came home third in 1:45.89 – only the third time in his career to go sub 1:46 indoors.
There, he also had Crestan and Chapple just ahead of him having come through his heat on Friday in second, clocking 1:46.42 on Friday morning.
Earlier this year, English skipped the National Indoors on the advice of his physio, but he arrived in Netherlands having set a new Irish indoor record at the Millrose Games in February.
In New York at the famous old games, English ran 1:45.15 – becoming the first Irish athlete to set a 1:45 indoors – and followed up with another sub-1:46 when going 1:45.82 in Liévin, France, five days later.