Mark English has finally won gold at the men's 800m at the European Athletics Championships which he has always been destined to do, becoming the first Irish man ever to be crowned European champion on the track. Before the crowd at the Alexander Stadium had time to settle, Rhasidat Adeleke of Tallaght AC came charging through the closing stages of the women's 200m to take silver in a new Irish record, beating Dina Asher-Smith on the line.
English gets the colour he was missing
English had five European medals before tonight.. Bronze in Zurich in 2014, bronze in Munich in 2022, silver indoors in Prague, then indoor bronzes in Glasgow and Apeldoorn. Gold was the one gap in the collection, and at 33 the Letterkenny man knew the chances to fill it were getting fewer.
The final itself was a lesson in patience. Croatia's Marino Bloudek and Spain's Mohamed Attaoui went to the front, and English settled in behind them on the outside line, second over, exactly where his coach Justin Rinaldi wanted him. Rinaldi, a former Australian 800m runner, had drilled one instruction into him beforehand: make one move, and only one.
So English waited. He tracked Bloudek through the final bend, and with roughly 50 metres left he went. Bloudek had led for most of the race and looked to have it won, but there was nothing he could do about the man coming past him. English crossed the line in 1:45.26, eased down, in tears before he even reached the finish. Bloudek held on for silver in 1:45.62, with Attaoui taking bronze in 1:45.71. Bloudek's embrace at the finish was as classy a piece of sportsmanship as you will see.
English could barely put it into words afterwards.
"I can't sum it up. I don't even know how to feel, to be honest," he said. "I think I'm relieved more than anything. I really wanted gold today. I'm just really thankful I took it home. I have my coach to thank, standing there at the 200 metre mark, strength and conditioning staff, nutrition, physiology, medical. I'm over the moon."
"It's totally different when you experience it. It's all coming to bear down and it'll take me a while to process."
Adeleke reminds everyone who she is
Adeleke arrived in Birmingham with a lot of noise around her. Two years of interrupted running since Paris, two spells on the sidelines this season, and a qualifying standard she only secured at the very last opportunity when she won the national title in Santry in July, running 22.80 into a headwind.
The semi-final on Wednesday hinted that the old form was close. She ran 22.43, a season's best, and looked like an athlete enjoying herself again.
The final was better still. Adeleke got out well and handled the bend beautifully, but with 80 metres to go she was fourth and looked to be running out of race. Then the finishing speed arrived. She hauled herself into third, went after Dina Asher-Smith, and got past the British sprinter in the last few strides.
Amy Hunt of Great Britain took gold in 22.19, holding off the charge behind her. Adeleke's 22.28 is a new Irish record, taking her own 22.34 off the books, and it is the first Irish medal ever won over 200m at a European Championships. Asher-Smith took bronze in 22.29.
Two medals, twenty minutes apart, one of them the first of its kind for an Irish man and one of them the first of its kind over the distance. Birmingham will be remembered for a long time.
