European Athletics Indoor Championships In Prague.

Donegal athlete Mark English (UCD AC) won a silver medal in the 800m on the final day of action from the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Prague.

English employed excellent racing tactics as he sat off the early pace positioning himself in fifth place at the 400m point. English continued to improve his position over the final 200m crossing the line in second place in a time of 1.47.20. The race was won by Marcin Lewandowski of Poland in a time of 1.46.67.

Commenting afterwards Mark said "I am absolutely delighted, I can't really put that into words I surprised myself out there today with how good I felt. When you have that speed over the last 200 and your passing top quality runners like Almgren of Sweden, second in Europe this year, I passed him with ease and it's just a great feeling. It's a great feeling to do it for those who came over, my family, friends, and teammates. The Irish supporters are better supporters than any of those in the world."

Race Tactics
It was over that final 200m that English's speed really paid dividends as he blasted past the Swedish athlete and just managed to pass Thijmen Kupers (NED) on the line to win the silver medal.
Commenting on this English said "With 400m left in the race I made a move to just sit into fourth place behind Almgren from Sweden and it was pretty much strung out at that stage. I just had to keep up on my toes, keep a rhythm and once I hit that final 200m I said no-one is going to beat me here. Unfortunately Lewandowska was a little too strong today. I am delighted with that, absolutely thrilled." The medal for the 21 year old medical student adds to the bronze medal he won at the European Athletics Outdoor Championships last summer.

John Travers
John Travers (Donore Harriers AC) contested the 1,500m final, a day after recording a personal best of 3.41.27 in the heats to qualify for the final. The Dublin native sat off the strong early pace set by Tanui Ozbilen of Turkey. Travers closed up on the back of the pack with 600m remaining and managed to pass two athletes over the final 200m. He crossed the line in seventh place in a time of 3.41.50, his second fastest time ever indoors for the distance. The race was won by Czech athlete Jakub Holusa in a time of 3.37.68. Commenting afterwards Travers said "It was a little bit slower than I thought it would be but at the same time I knew I was in the right spot. I played the race the way I wanted to, unfortunately I missed the break when they made it. Think that cost me as I think I was coming back to them towards the finish. A little bit disappointed, but overall it's a very good championship. "

4x400m Relay
The Irish men's 4x400m relay team made up of Dara Kervick (Clonliffe Harriers AC), Timmy Crowe (Clonliffe Harriers AC), Harry Purcell (Trim AC) and Brandon Arrey (Blarney/Inniscara AC)contested the final event of these championships. The young inexperienced team made up of two 23 year olds (Kervick & Crowe) and two 19 year olds (Purcell & Arrey) were drawn in lane six.
Individual semi-finalist at these championships Kervick made a confident start to the race handing over the baton in fourth place to club mate Timmy Crowe. Crowe consolidated the position as he battled hard with teams from Great Britain and Russia to keep Ireland in fourth position. Purcell and Arrey were tasked with bringing home the baton for the Irish team, both young athletes gave it their all and will have a gained a lot from being exposed to competition of this level.The finishing time for the team was 3.10.67 which was less than two second outside the Irish record of 3.08.83 set in 2004.

Travel Arrangements for the Irish Team
The Irish team along with European Indoor 800m silver medallist Mark English will return to Ireland on Monday, 9th of March. They will arrive in Dublin Airport, Terminal 1 at 7.10pm.