Mark English won the 800m title at the European Athletics Championships held in Birmingham. The Irish athlete secured the victory with a time of 1:45.26, achieving a historic milestone for his country. This was Ireland's first gold medal at the European Athletics Championships.
In the decisive phase of the race, English overtook Croatia's Martin Manjko in the final 100 metres. Manjk secured the silver medal, while Ben Pattison finished in sixth place. Mohamed Attaoui from Spain took the bronze.
English, a runner from Donegal and a qualified doctor, was the clear favourite for the gold. The reason for this was his performance in the semi-finals, where he broke the 48-year-old European record set by Olaf Beyer. At 33, English secured his third medal at the European Championships, following his bronze in 2014 in Zurich and a third-place finish in 2022 in Munich.
This gold medal marked Ireland's first medal at this edition of the championships. Several other prominent names were in the final, but an injury prevented Max Burgin of Great Britain from competing. Burgin withdrew from the final due to an injury sustained during his warm-up.
