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Mark English achieved the Olympic qualifying standard time on Tuesday evening (file photo). Morgan Treacy/INPHO

Mark English breaks his own Irish 800m record to qualify for Paris Olympics

Cathal Doyle sets new PB to win 1500m at Paavo Nurmi Games, while Sarah Lavin and Louise Shanahan run season’s bests.

MARK ENGLISH IS set to become a three-time Olympian this summer after he sealed his qualification for Paris 2024 in Finland on Tuesday evening.

The Donegal native ran 1:44.69 to finish second in the 800m at the Paavo Nurmi Games, bettering his three-year old national record by two-hundredths of a second.

Crucially, English’s time just dipped under the Olympic qualification standard time of 1:44.70, booking his ticket to Paris.

Meanwhile, Sarah Lavin — who has already secured Olympic qualification — put her European Championship disappointment behind her as she clocked a season’s best of 12.66 seconds to finish third in the 60m hurdles.

Of those Irish athletes seeking to climb the rankings ahead of the Olympic cut-off, Cathal Doyle won the 1500m in a personal best time of 3:34.09, leading home an Irish 1-2 ahead of Luke McCann (3:34.32), while Louise Shanahan’s 2:02.59 in the 800m was a season’s best.

Recently-crowned European relay champion Thomas Barr finished fourth in the 400m hurdles in 49.46.

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Niall Kelly
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