Name: Mark English
Club: Finn Valley AC
Event: 800m
Personal Best: 1.43.37
Tokyo Schedule: Tue 16 Sept 11:35
Juveniles
If you have a moment, grab a cup of tea and take the time to read through this article on the athletics career of Mark English. His international career at major championships spans an incredible 14 years. Switching from Gaelic Football to Athletics at 15 years old was one of Athletics Ireland’s greatest fortunes. He ran with Letterkenny AC back in those years and by 2011 he had won the European Youth trials over 1000m and finished 8th in the World Youth Games in Singapore. This was the same year that Kate Veale of West Waterford won the gold for racewalking. That same year he competed in the European u20 Championships making a semi-final over 800m and at 18 years of age took his first national senior 800m title. A year later in 2012 he finished 5th in the World u20s 800m final.
2014 was a great year
As a twenty-year-old he not only took part in the European u23s but went on later that year to take part in his first ever individual 800m at the World Championships in Moscow. By the end of 2013 the 20-year-old had reduced his personal best over 800m to 1:44.84 (just two tenths of David Matthews long standing national record) and finished 4th in the IAAF World Challenge 800m in Italy. Studying medicine in UCD did not deter the young Letterkenny man for pursuing athletics at an elite level.
In 2014 things got even better. A week before his 21st birthday he took part in the World Indoors in Poland. He then finished second to one of the greatest 800m athletes ever David Rushida at the New York Adidas Grand Prix. Flying past American supremo Duane Solomon and the 2010 European 800m champion Marcin Lewandowski (Poland) in the home straight. Solomon had finished 4th in the 2012 Olympic Games and 6th in the 2013 World Championships. The world was alerted to a phenomenal 800m talent coming out of Ireland. The late Jerry Kiernan heralded English as “The greatest ever talent in middle distance running”. A string of wins ensued through the summer from national to international competitions, including the European team championships. By August of that year, he got his first taste of major championship success – a bronze medal in the European Championships in Zurich. A race that was dominated by Poles, who occupied 1st, 2nd and 5th spots in the final. English also helped the Irish men’s 4x400m to 4th place. He cumulated his season with a 4th place in the Continental Cup.
His mounting success and huge home following famously led the late Jerry Kiernan to state on RTE that “The greatest sportsman in Donegal at the moment is Mark English. I see Michael Murphy, and he is playing Gaelic. He is playing against lads from Monaghan. Mark English is running against Kenyans”.
2015 to 2020
2015 saw more medals on the major stage. At the European Indoors in Prague he finished 2nd in the 800m final. He followed this up with a second at the European team championships along with several podium places at elite international events and of course retaining his Irish senior championship title – his third such title. European u23 and another World championship ensured that same year – albeit without medals.
Under the guidance of his coach Nic Bideau, English continued to compete over 800m on the international stage (including majors). However, it was not until 2019 that he once again stood on the podium at a major event. One must appreciate that during this period he was doing clinical placements as part of his medicine degree. At the emirates stadium in Glasgow, he finished 3rd in the European Indoors, again at 800m, set a seasons best of 1:45.94 in Birmingham before competing in the World Championships in Doha.
Covid hit in 2020 with English opting to do his medical internship. The world was in lockdown and with all hands-on-deck in the medical work, it was as good as any time to do it.
2021-2025
Post covid, 2021 saw Europeans and Olympics held in empty stadiums with the sound of beating emptiness. David Matthews held the National 800m record of 1:44.82. It was a record he set back in Italy in 1995. For twenty-six years the record remained intact. Back in 2013 English had come within two tenths of that time. In June of 2021 in Castellon, the Finn Valley athlete smashed that twenty-six-year-old record with a second place finish and a time of 1:44.71. This offered a glimpse of an envigored English. His Olympics in Tokyo did not produce the result he wanted nor reflect the ability he had. Working with Feidhlim Kelly (Dublin Track Club) English worked his way through World Indoors, International events and another World Championships, managing injuries and by July of 2022 his performances started to improve. In August he was once again back on the podium with a bronze at the European Championships in Munich. 2023 was once again a year that the Donegal man had to balance load and injuries as he competed in Diamond Leagues, elite track meets and qualified for the semi-final in Budapest, a race where obvious jostling limited his performance in that semi-final.
In 2024, English lowered his own Irish 800m record to 1:44.53, with a 4th place finish in Madrid. While 2024 (the Olympic year) did see much more consistency in the Finn Valley AC athletes running and he did reach the semi-final of the Olympics in Paris and he did lower his national record to 1:44.53, it was clear that something needed to change. That potential he had shown back in 2013/2014 to be the “greatest middle-distance athlete of all-time” needed more fulfilment.
