English finishes with a flourish for bronze
The Donegal man looked relaxed on his warm-up strides and it was that sense of relaxation that saw him surprise his rivals and earn a well-deserved bronze, with pre-race favourite Pierre-Ambroise Bosse of France fading to last.
“I was just so relaxed. I didn’t feel any pressure,” said English, on a race won by Adam Kszczot of Poland in 1:44.15. It was a good night for the Poles with Artur Kuciapski second in a pb of 1:44.89 for silver.
The pressure was off English going into last night’s final having only qualified as a fastest loser but he was drawing inspiration from the New York Diamond League on June 14, where he finished second to David Rudisha and beat Kszczot and highly rated Marcin Lewandowski.
“I was really just trying to replicate that as much as I could out there,” he said of New York. Beforehand I was saying to myself ‘you beat the two Poles in New York.’”
Pierre-Ambroise Bosse took out the race as expected and brought them through 400m in a swift 50.97 seconds and there was a growing sense of expectation that this would suit English as he started to move up from 7th.
Rounding into the home straight, it was clear something special was going to happen. And it did: “The last 100m was unbelievable,” said English. “I trusted myself. I didn’t listen to anyone else. I played a percentage game up the home straight. I had to go wide.
“I said I’d run my own race. It’s fantastic. It’s not just for me. It’s for everyone who supported me. My whole family are here.”
English announced himself as a potential world class performer at the world junior championships in the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona in 2012 where he finished fifth.
There has been a weight of pressure on his shoulders since but that was lifted with his first senior international medal.
“It’s nice not to be known now as not just a time trialist anymore and that I can actually medal,” said English. “That’s a big step forward for me. I can go to championships now in future and know I can put rounds back to back, which is the real key.”
English has a self-assuredness and composure not often seen in Irish athletes. The second year UCD medicine student felt favourite Bosse was beatable and so it proved.
“I knew he was beatable today,” he said of the Frenchman. “I figured Kszczot would be the strongest going into that race, which he was. I thought that Lewandowski would have been stronger. It just shows that anything can happen. When you are in the final, it doesn’t matter.”
He wasn’t far off the silver medal but he was philosophical about it. “Bronze medallists always end up happier in the long run,” he quipped.
It was a great day for Irish middle distance running with Paul Robinson and Ciarán Ó Lionáird advancing to the final of the 1500m on Sunday.
“I’m absolutely delighted,” said Robinson after he qualified automatically in 4th in the second heat in 3:39.83. “I felt really, really good out there. When I went looking for the gears in the last 200, thankfully they were there.”
Ó Lionáird finished 7th in the first heat in 3:39.79 but it was enough to make the final — John Travers finished 14th in 3:49.73. “It’s not the way I would have liked to make it,” said the Leevale athlete afterwards. “I didn’t run a perfect tactical race.”
The Macroom man may not have run the perfect race tactically but he is into the final alongside Paul Robinson, with everything to run for on Sunday. He need only draw inspiration from Mark English who showed that anything can happen when you get to the final — he is now a man of bronze.
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