Mark English won the men's 800m at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, becoming the first man to win a European outdoor senior gold for Ireland. English surged past Croatia's Marino Bloudek inside the final 100 metres to take victory in 1:45.26, then fell to his knees as he crossed the line. Bloudek took silver and Spain's Mohamed Attaoui claimed bronze. Ben Pattison finished sixth and Great Britain’s Max Burgin withdrew from the final after an injury in the warm-up. The 33-year-old Donegal runner, a qualified doctor, had previously won bronzes in 2014 and 2022 and went into the final as favourite after breaking Olaf Beyer's 48-year European semi-final record at Alexander Stadium. English credited new coach Justin Rinaldi for race advice. English's gold was Ireland's first medal of the Championships; in the next race Rhasidat Adeleke won silver in the women's 200m in 22.28, a new Irish record, finishing 0.01 seconds ahead of Dina Asher-Smith while Amy Hunt won.
