Mark English wins 800m heat at European Championships

Mark English’s performance in round 1 of the men’s 800m was the highlight from an Irish viewpoint at the opening session of the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham on Monday.

The Finn Valley AC man won his heat in a time of 1:46.96 to automatically qualify for the semi-finals on Wednesday.

Commenting after his win, English said:

“The main job was to secure qualification for the semis and I am really looking forward to Wednesday. I treat every race like my final race. Today I was a bit boxed in earlier in the race so I was happy to then get out and qualify.”

Cian McPhilipps disappointed in his heat of the same event. A fourth-place finisher from the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last year, the UCD athlete finished in seventh in 1:46.84.

Neville into 100m semi-finals

Ciara Neville ran 11.29 when finishing in fifth place in heat 1 of the women’s 100m, good enough to see the 26-year-old from Limerick progress to the semi-finals this evening. Neville will run from lane 9 in the second of three semi-finals, with her race off at 8.18pm.

Lauren Roy, unfortunately, did not progress in the same event. Competing in the third heat, the Fast Twitch AC sprinter clocked 11.32 seconds in finishing sixth of eight competitors.

Jack Raftery of Donore Harriers finished second in Heat 2 Round 1 of the men’s 400m. Crossing the line in a time of 45.81 seconds, the DCU Masters student did enough to qualify for Tuesday’s semi-finals which will begin at 9pm

Eric Favors has made tonight’s shot put final at 8.33pm. The US-born Irish international achieved a best of 19.54m in qualifying this morning, meaning he qualifies 12th of the 18 finalists.

Updated Timetable for Irish Athletes in action tonight

Nicola Tuthill – Women’s Hammer Throw – Qualification Group B – 8.38pm
Sarah Lavin – 100m Hurdles – Round One Heat 2 – 7.42pm
Ciara Neville – Women’s 100m – Semi-Final 2 – 8.18pm
Eric Favors – Men’s Shot Put – Final – 8.33pm
Darragh McElhinney – Men’s 5000m – Final – 8.40pm
Nick Griggs – Men’s 5000m – Final – 8.40pm
Brian Fay – Men’s 5000m – Final – 8.40pm
Abbie Sheridan – Women’s 3000m Steeplechase – Round One Heat 2– 9.13pm

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