It wasn’t to be for Mark English, as the Finn Valley AC athlete exited the World Indoor Championships at the semi-final stage on Saturday in Torun.
Mark placed fourth in his semi-final, clocking 1:46.70 having gone from fifth to first just past the midway point of the race.
There were, as always, fine margins at this level.
Some contact with another athlete around 250m proved to be a fatal moment for Mark, although a World Athletics Jury of Appeal rejected a protest from Irish officials.
In the opening round, Mark got safely through to the semi finals of the men’s 800m, winning his heat in 1:46.42.
Mark has been in superb form in recent months and his focus will now turn sharply to the outdoor season – with a focus moving to the European Championships which take place in Birmingham in August.
Finn Valley AC was represented at the Ulster Spring Throws Festival in Letterkenny on Sunday afternoon.
James Kelly, a medal winner at the recent National Senior Indoor Championships, went to 15.62 to earn gold in the senior shot put.
Conor Breslin reached out to 39.49m for gold in the senior hammer.
Miller McCrossan won the U13 shot, throwing to 8.38m and also took silver in the javelin (13.64m).
Emily McHugh won gold in the U15 javelin, going to 22.92m and took bronze in the shot with a best throw of 6.85m.
Kayla Heapes-Grant was second in the U12 shot put (3.4m) and Sophie Henderson took silver in the U13 javelin (13.25m).
Sean Habbas was the U18 shot put silver medal winner, through a 7.02m effort and also won silver in the javelin (22.82m). Sean took a silver in the discus when going to 15.03m.
In the masters categories: Bosco Reid won gold in the M65 shot (10.22m), gold in the discus (31.08), gold in the hammer (32.97m); Jacqueline Doherty won gold in the W55 shot (4.98m), gold in the hammer (17.04m), gold in the weight throw (4.43m) and silver in the javelin (6.54m); Gerard Doherty won the M55 weight throw with a 5.6m effort and he also left with shot silver (7.95m), silver in the discus (17.2m), silver in the hammer (17.47m); Clive Heapes took gold in the M35 hammer when going out to 33.58m and Clive was the M35 weight throw gold medallist thanks to a 5.27m effort while he was also the javelin silver medal winner (31.79m).
Diarmait Keogh returned to action at the Dunboyne 55th Road Race on Sunday, clocking 33 minutes and 22 seconds.
Finn Valley AC athlete Sophia Thompson – who has been in record breaking form of late – has signed an NIL deal with New Balance.
Last weekend, Sophia was part of a Union Catholic team that broke the US national distance medley relay record at the New Balance Nationals.
The team clocked 11:06.03 with Sophia doing a 4:41.58 1600m leg and then placed fifth in the mile, finishing in an excellent PB of 2:07.08.
Also at the World Championships at the weekend, Finn Valley AC media officer Chris McNulty attended a ceremony where unique athletics memorabilia was handed over to the Museum of World Athletics.
The event, at the Toruń Plaza,was opened by World Athletics President Sebastian Coe – who provided the foreword for Patsy McGonagle’s memoir, Relentless, and also to Beyond The Line, the official history of Finn Valley AC.
Saturday’s event saw memorabilia handed in by: Daniel Komen from Kenya, the 5000m gold medallist at the 1997 World Championships in Athens; Poland’s Sebastian Chmara, heptathlon gold medallist winner at the 1999 World Indoors in Maebashi; and Dutch sprinter Nelli Cooman, a two-time World indoor champion and six-time European indoor champion; Poland’s Adam Kszczot – a former foe of Mark English and a multiple World and European medal winner; Pawel Wojciechowski, the 2011 World pole vault champion from Poland; and Algerian Noureddine Morceli, the 1996 Olympic 1500m gold medallist and four-time World gold winner.
There was a strong Finn Valley AC contingent on the start line at the Michael Murphy 3k in Letterkenny on St Patrick’s Day morning.
Roisin Flanagan, back home from the United States for a flying visit, flew to victory as the first woman across the finish line. Flanagan, who will go back across the Atlantic ahead of a busy summer of action, finished in 9:20 for sixth overall and victory in the women’s race.
Finn Valley AC duo Oisin Toye and Odhran McBrearty were second and third behind the race winner John Travers, who led the charge in 8:30.
Oisin was second in 8:46 with Odhran just three seconds further back, going 8:49 for third.
Enda Doherty had a solid outing in eighth, finishing in 9:30 with Paraic McGettigan 10th in 9:38. Padraig Og McDermott overcame a bump in traffic to clock 9:56, placing 19th.
Cian Neeson (10:51), Aimee McElchar (11:23), Luke Glackin (11:45), Michael Penrose (12:13), Luke McElchar (12:16), Kay Byrne (12:21), Jerome McElchar (12:27) and Charlie Gallen (17:41) were also among those in action.
Mark placed fourth in his semi-final, clocking 1:46.70 having gone from fifth to first just past the midway point of the race.
There were, as always, fine margins at this level.
Some contact with another athlete around 250m proved to be a fatal moment for Mark, although a World Athletics Jury of Appeal rejected a protest from Irish officials.
In the opening round, Mark got safely through to the semi finals of the men’s 800m, winning his heat in 1:46.42.
Mark has been in superb form in recent months and his focus will now turn sharply to the outdoor season – with a focus moving to the European Championships which take place in Birmingham in August.
Finn Valley AC was represented at the Ulster Spring Throws Festival in Letterkenny on Sunday afternoon.
James Kelly, a medal winner at the recent National Senior Indoor Championships, went to 15.62 to earn gold in the senior shot put.
Conor Breslin reached out to 39.49m for gold in the senior hammer.
Miller McCrossan won the U13 shot, throwing to 8.38m and also took silver in the javelin (13.64m).
Emily McHugh won gold in the U15 javelin, going to 22.92m and took bronze in the shot with a best throw of 6.85m.
Kayla Heapes-Grant was second in the U12 shot put (3.4m) and Sophie Henderson took silver in the U13 javelin (13.25m).
Sean Habbas was the U18 shot put silver medal winner, through a 7.02m effort and also won silver in the javelin (22.82m). Sean took a silver in the discus when going to 15.03m.
In the masters categories: Bosco Reid won gold in the M65 shot (10.22m), gold in the discus (31.08), gold in the hammer (32.97m); Jacqueline Doherty won gold in the W55 shot (4.98m), gold in the hammer (17.04m), gold in the weight throw (4.43m) and silver in the javelin (6.54m); Gerard Doherty won the M55 weight throw with a 5.6m effort and he also left with shot silver (7.95m), silver in the discus (17.2m), silver in the hammer (17.47m); Clive Heapes took gold in the M35 hammer when going out to 33.58m and Clive was the M35 weight throw gold medallist thanks to a 5.27m effort while he was also the javelin silver medal winner (31.79m).
Diarmait Keogh returned to action at the Dunboyne 55th Road Race on Sunday, clocking 33 minutes and 22 seconds.
Finn Valley AC athlete Sophia Thompson – who has been in record breaking form of late – has signed an NIL deal with New Balance.
Last weekend, Sophia was part of a Union Catholic team that broke the US national distance medley relay record at the New Balance Nationals.
The team clocked 11:06.03 with Sophia doing a 4:41.58 1600m leg and then placed fifth in the mile, finishing in an excellent PB of 2:07.08.
Also at the World Championships at the weekend, Finn Valley AC media officer Chris McNulty attended a ceremony where unique athletics memorabilia was handed over to the Museum of World Athletics.
The event, at the Toruń Plaza,was opened by World Athletics President Sebastian Coe – who provided the foreword for Patsy McGonagle’s memoir, Relentless, and also to Beyond The Line, the official history of Finn Valley AC.
Saturday’s event saw memorabilia handed in by: Daniel Komen from Kenya, the 5000m gold medallist at the 1997 World Championships in Athens; Poland’s Sebastian Chmara, heptathlon gold medallist winner at the 1999 World Indoors in Maebashi; and Dutch sprinter Nelli Cooman, a two-time World indoor champion and six-time European indoor champion; Poland’s Adam Kszczot – a former foe of Mark English and a multiple World and European medal winner; Pawel Wojciechowski, the 2011 World pole vault champion from Poland; and Algerian Noureddine Morceli, the 1996 Olympic 1500m gold medallist and four-time World gold winner.
There was a strong Finn Valley AC contingent on the start line at the Michael Murphy 3k in Letterkenny on St Patrick’s Day morning.
Roisin Flanagan, back home from the United States for a flying visit, flew to victory as the first woman across the finish line. Flanagan, who will go back across the Atlantic ahead of a busy summer of action, finished in 9:20 for sixth overall and victory in the women’s race.
Finn Valley AC duo Oisin Toye and Odhran McBrearty were second and third behind the race winner John Travers, who led the charge in 8:30.
Oisin was second in 8:46 with Odhran just three seconds further back, going 8:49 for third.
Enda Doherty had a solid outing in eighth, finishing in 9:30 with Paraic McGettigan 10th in 9:38. Padraig Og McDermott overcame a bump in traffic to clock 9:56, placing 19th.
Cian Neeson (10:51), Aimee McElchar (11:23), Luke Glackin (11:45), Michael Penrose (12:13), Luke McElchar (12:16), Kay Byrne (12:21), Jerome McElchar (12:27) and Charlie Gallen (17:41) were also among those in action.