Mark English (Letterkenny AC ) finished 8th in Sundays 1.000 meters final at the youth Olympics in Singapore. Held in very warm conditions of 35 degrees, the fast early pace was set by Sudanese athlete Abdelrahman who went through 400 meters in 53.70, with Geleto of Ethiopia going through 800m in 1.53.15. English moved to the front of the bunch at the 300 meters mark but when Geleto kicked for home at 200 he split the field apart, with the Letterkenny man unable to maintain contact. In the resulting bunch sprint to the line he finished eight in a time of 2.24.95, just outside his best of 2:24.53. Geleto took gold in an impressive 2.19.94 with silver going to the fast finishing Driouch of Qatar 2.21.25 and Briton Charlie Grice got up for bronze in 2.21.85.
While disappointed at not making the medals this has been a fantastic season for English and he can look forward to the future with confidence.
Mark spoke with Myles Gallagher on Sunday Sport.
The Irish Athletic team at the games was also coached by Donegal’s Bernie Alcorn.
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