English set to make mark

Mark English and Paul Robinson start a new era for Irish middle-distance running this morning in the heats of the 800m on the opening day of the World Track and Field Championships in Moscow.

Great Britain’s Mo Farah will look to continue his dominance at the helm of distance running in the 10,000m final and Maria McCambridge believes it will be all about survival in the baking heat on the roads of Moscow in the women’s marathon.

With six heats in the first round of the 800m and the first three from each qualifying automatically to the semi-finals along with the next six fastest athletes, Robinson and English will experience the cut and thrust of the upper echelon of athletics for the first time.

Robinson is in heat one and will have to contend with Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski, a former European champion and returning to good form this season, along with some other top athletes but is looking forward to it.

“I’m looking forward to competing in my first world championships and seeing what I have got on a world stage,” said Robinson (St Coca’s) who finished fourth over 1500m at the European U23s in Finland last month.

“The best in the world are here so it will be a real test. If I run to my best in the heat, progressing to the semi is a real possibility. So I’m focusing on producing a good race in the heat. And I’ll also need a bit of luck.”

English has been touted as one of the most gifted runners this country has ever seen and the UCD student is determined to make the transition from a prodigious junior to fully-fledged senior.

“There’s no point in being good as a junior. It’s nice to make the transition to my first senior championships,” said the 20-year-old who finished a fine fifth at the World Junior Championships last summer in Barcelona. Nijel Amos and Timothy Kitum finished first and second in that race and went on to finish second and third at the Olympics behind David Rudisha’s sparkling world record in the race dubbed as “the best 800m race of all time.”

Although Rudisha is out of the championships, English is keenly aware that there will be no easy races on his senior bow at the global level.

“This is going to be a good experience,” said English. “It’s a bit premature to say I’ll have my best ever World Championships. I’m hoping to make the semi-final and I’ll try to make the final.

“Some people think that with no Rudisha it’s weak but there are a group of guys running 1:42/3 consistently.”

English is coached by Teresa McDaid who has built up a fine stable of athletes in Letterkenny with one of her charges Ruairi Finnegan making the final of the 1500m at the European Junior Championships last month.

The Letterkenny man was unfortunate to miss out on the London Olympics when he was narrowly outside the A standard. He eventually got to run in the Olympic stadium at the London Anniversary Games two weeks ago when Nic Bideau got him a lane and he made the most of that, becoming only the second Irish man to run under 1 minute and 45 seconds for the 800m – the barometer for world class 800m running.

“Racing in London gave me good experience taking on Duane Solomon and Nick Symmonds – two of the main contenders for Moscow.”

English will compete in alongside Symmonds from the USA, who won in London.

Maria McCambridge, who has been a great servant to Irish athletics over the years both individually as an Olympian over 5,000m in Athens in 2004 and as a member of world cross country medal-winning teams, will look to put her vast experience to good use in the marathon. “It’s going to be about survival,” said the 37-year-old DSD AC athlete. “The mindset is going to be to finish as high up the field as I possibly can. The heat is going to be a major factor.”