Mark English continued his outstanding start to the 2026 season on Thursday night, producing another world class performance to finish 2nd in the men's non-DL 800m at the Rome Diamond League. The Donegal athlete clocked a season's best of 1:43.80, finishing just 0.14 seconds behind France's Gabriel Tual, who took victory in 1:43.66. As has become a trademark of English's racing, he unleashed a powerful late surge over the closing metres, rapidly cutting into Tual's advantage and closing strongly on the line. The performance follows his historic Diamond League victory in Shanghai last month and further underlines his status as one of Europe's leading 800m runners.
There was also an excellent run from Sarah Healy in her first 5000m race in almost six years. The Irish star finished 17th in a high quality Diamond League field but produced a huge personal best of 14:48.88, comfortably achieving the qualifying standard for August's European Athletics Championships. The performance moves Healy to second on the Irish all time list over 5000m, behind only the legendary Sonia O'Sullivan. While her finishing position may not immediately catch the eye, the time itself ranks among the finest performances of her career and represents another major step forward for the European indoor champion as she continues to expand her range on the track.
Watch Mark English's brilliant late charge for 2nd place in Rome below:
