English makes history with European 800m goldByAndy GrayBBC Sport NI JournalistPublished14 minutes agoMark English has become the first man to win a gold medal for Ireland at the European Athletics Championships after he won the 800m in Birmingham.English moved into first place inside the final 100 metres as he surged past Croatia’s Marino Bloudek to win with a time of 1:45.26.Ben Patterson was sixth, while there was disappointment for his Great Britain team-mate Max Burgin, who was forced to withdraw from the final after he picked up an injury in the warm-up.But the night belonged to English, who finally won European gold after his bronze medals from 2014 in Zurich and four years ago in Munich.The 33-year-old was the favourite for gold after he broke Olaf Beyer’s 48-year European record in his semi-final.And while he did not lead the final until he passed the hard-charging Bloudek coming onto the home straight, he delivered in style and fell to his knees as he crossed the line.English won his first European medal as a 21-year-old in 2014 with Bronze, and was third in Munich in 2022.The gold for the Donegal runner, who is a qualified doctor, is the first medal of the Championships for Ireland.Bloudek of Croatia held on to win silver and Spain’s Mohamed Attaoui claimed bronze. Patterson, the sole British runner after the injury to Burgin, was in a strong position heading into the final 100m but fell short of a medal.”I’m gutted. It was a great opportunity today to add to my medal collection,” Patterson mentioned.”I gave myself too much work to do, and the legs weren’t there. I’m just disappointed.”More to follow.Related topicsAthletics
