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Mark English (athlete)

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Mark English
Mark English, 2022 in Munich
Personal information
NationalityIrish
Born (1993-03-18) 18 March 1993 (age 31)
Sport
SportTrack and field
Event800m
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
  • 800 m (outdoor): (outdoor): 1:44.70 (2021)
  • 800 m (indoor): 1:46.10 (2021, NR)[1]
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Ireland
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Zürich 800 m
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Munich 800 m
European Indoor Championships
Silver medal – second place 2015 Prague 800 m
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Glasgow 800 m
European Team Championships
Silver medal – second place 2019 Sandnes (First League) 800m
Gold medal – first place 2017 Vaasa (First League) 800m
Silver medal – second place 2015 Heraklion (First League) 800m
Gold medal – first place 2014 Tallinn (First League) 800m

Mark English (born 18 March 1993) is an Irish middle-distance runner.[2]

Early life

English's home town is Letterkenny in County Donegal. He attended secondary school at St Eunan's College.[3] He only made the switch to athletics during his Transition Year, having previously played Gaelic football for Letterkenny Gaels at under-age level.[4] While a member of Letterkenny Athletic Club in his teens, he tested himself against the Gaelic footballer Caolan Ward.[5]

English studied medicine at University College Dublin (UCD), where his classmates included Dublin's multiple All-Ireland winning Gaelic footballer Jack McCaffrey—considered that sport's quickest player. English has issued a challenge to McCaffrey to take him on over 100 metres.[6] After qualifying as a doctor in 2019, he initially intended to step aside from medical practice in order to focus on athletics full-time, but when the 2020 Olympics were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he took the opportunity to complete his 12-month medical internship.[7]

Career

At the 2014 European Athletics Championships, English won a bronze medal in the 800 metres event.[8][9] On 8 March at the 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Prague, English won a silver medal.[10][11]

In 2014, English finished 2nd at the Adidas Grand Prix as part of the 2014 IAAF Diamond League.[12] English finished 4th at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup, representing Team Europe.[13]

In 2015, he finished 9th at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, China.[14]

He represented Ireland at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[15] Later that year, English ran the 2nd quickest of all-time for 500m at the Great CityGames, finishing 2nd to 2016 Olympic 800m winner David Rudisha.[16]

On 3 March 2019, English won a bronze medal in the 800 metres at the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships.[17] Following this, the RTÉ analyst Jerry Kiernan (himself a former athlete) described English as historically the country's "greatest talent" in middle-distance running.[18] Several years earlier, Kiernan had claimed that English was better than Michael Murphy — the All-Ireland winning football team captain long held to be his county's greatest ever athlete. Kiernan justified this remark with the comment: "[Murphy] is playing against lads from Monaghan. Mark English is running against Kenyans".[19]

In August 2019, English won the 800m at the Birmingham 2019 Diamond League.[20]

In August 2022, he won a bronze medal in the 800m at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich.[21]

Other work

English has been active in encouraging people to read more books.[22]

References

  1. ^ [1:46.10 ]
  2. ^ "Mark English". IAAF. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  3. ^ "Mark English is the pride of Letterkenny". Highland Radio. 19 August 2014.
  4. ^ McNulty, Chris (12 February 2016). "Mark English: Youngsters shouldn't 'specialise' in sport too early". Archived from the original on 28 February 2016.
  5. ^ O'Kane, Cahair (3 August 2019). "Commitment starting to pay off for Ward". The Irish News.
  6. ^ "English challenges McCaffrey to race". Hogan Stand. 19 June 2014.
  7. ^ "Mark English: A doctor with time - and times - for the Olympics". 4 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Mark English wins 800m European bronze for Ireland". The Score. 15 August 2014. Archived from the original on 20 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Mark English wins bronze for Ireland". Irish Examiner. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  10. ^ "'I had to bide my time' - Mark English claims silver for Ireland in European 800m final". Irish Independent. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  11. ^ "Mark English upgrades bronze to silver at European Indoor Championships". Irish Examiner. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  12. ^ "English takes second at New York Diamond League". RTE.ie. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  13. ^ "Mark English Places Fourth in Marrakech |". Athletics Ireland. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  14. ^ "800m Metres Men". IAAF. 23 August 2015.
  15. ^ "Rio 2016: Mark English smooth and composed on debut". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  16. ^ admin (11 September 2016). "Mark English finishes 2nd to Rudisha in Newcastle". Highland Radio - Latest Donegal News and Sport. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  17. ^ "Bronze medal for Ireland as Mark English grabs third in European Indoor 800m final". The 42. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  18. ^ McNulty, Chris (6 March 2019). "Jerry Kiernan says Mark English is the 'greatest ever' talent in Irish middle-distance running". Archived from the original on 7 May 2019.
  19. ^ "Forget GAA, English is greatest sportsman in Donegal - Kiernan". 21 April 2014. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019.
  20. ^ "English storms to 800m gold at Diamond League". 18 August 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. ^ "How Mark English plotted his brilliant bronze in the European 800m final". The 42. 24 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  22. ^ "Donegal sporting stars encouraging students to read more books". Highland Radio. 9 April 2016.
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