Another storming finish by Mark English saw him nail a close second over 800 metres at the Rome Diamond League on Thursday night, his time of 1:43.80 the second fastest time of his career.
Just like he did when winning at the Shanghai Diamond League last month, English left it late down the homestretch in his bid for victory, only this time it wasn’t enough to reel in Gabriel Tual from France, who held on for the win in 1:43.66.
At 33, English improved on the 1:43.85 he set in Shanghai last month, getting close to Tual, the Olympic finalists from Paris, who has a best a 1:41.61.
Sarah Healy made her Diamond League debut in the 5,000m, having won the 1,500m here last year, and ran a cautious race to clock 14:48.88, back in 17th place, but second fastest on the Irish all-time list behind Sonia O’Sullivan’s Irish record of 14:41.02 from the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and inside the European Championships qualifying standard of 15:05.00. Victory went to Likina Amebaw from Ethiopia in 14:18.41.
