European Indoor Silver Medallist Mark English Returns To A Hero's Welcome

European Indoor 800m silver medallist Mark English (UCD AC) returned to a hero's welcome at Dublin Airport on Monday, 9th of March. A day after winning European silver to add to his bronze medal from the European Outdoor Championships last summer, English was greeted by family, friends and supporters on his arrival home. The 21 year old medical student will now take a short break from training and then he will re-focus his efforts on the major goal for the outdoor season; the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Beijing in August.

Irish Team Review
Along with English's stunning silver medal the championships overall were an encouraging one for the young Irish team, with the average age of the squad just 23. English's medal was the first time an Irish athlete medalled indoors over 800m since 1969 when Noel Carroll won bronze.

High performance Director Kevin Ankrom said "Off the back of Zurich and now here in Prague Mark English has demonstrated that he is a championship competitor. I am delighted for him and all his friends and family. Overall it was a very encouraging performance by this young team of athletes, with many of our high profile athletes sitting out the indoor season it was opportunity for these athletes to gain valuable championship experience. Overall we had a team that demonstrated that they can deliver performances at major championships with Dara, Declan and Ciara progressing through the rounds and John making the (1500m) final. We also had numerous seasons and personal best performances."

Relay Team Targets Rio

Further commenting on the progress of the relay team Ankrom said: "The relay squad performance was exciting too as it was the third fastest time by an Irish 4x400m Squad indoors and that was with teenagers Harry and Brandon on the team who relished the opportunity to compete in this environment. This experience will stand to them and the rest of the team as it will build a squad with real depth on the run up to Rio. I believe we can qualify a team and be realistically targeting a final.

The Future for Irish Athletics

Commenting on the future for Irish athletics Ankrom said "The high performance strategic plan identifies 24 medal opportunities at major championships from 2013-2016, with 13 medals now won to date along with the projections for the upcoming season we are advancing well towards that target. Irish athletes are now showing consistently good results at European level. Our on-going challenge is to bridge that gap to World and Olympic level. We are investing our financial and support resources in the right athletes and we will continue to do this as we seek to bridge this gap over the longer term."