"His ecstasy, however, meant utter agony for Mark English, who had produced a fine performance himself to come home third in the first of three semi-finals, clocking 1:45.47. That was not enough to advance as a non-automatic qualifier, with McPhillips leading the first seven men in the race that followed to quicker times. It meant English had to sit and watch as the 32-year-old lost not only his Irish record, but what is likely his last shot at a global outdoor final."
"As cruel as the championships have been to English, who was beaten only by two Olympic medallists, they've been oh-so-kind to McPhillips, who came in ranked outside the top-40 in the 800m but who will go into Saturday's eight-man final - at 2.22pm Irish time - as a genuine medal contender, having powered to victory in both his heat and semi-final."
""I was pretty nervous for the first race, I just wanted to make the semis and in my mind, that was the main box checked," he said. "Everything else was a bonus. I'm not even nervous for these races, to be honest. I see this as a bit of a free hit.""
Twenty-three-year-old Longford athlete and UCD student Keiran McPhillips ran an Irish-record 1:43.18 to win his 800m semi-final at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo, beating many world-class competitors. Mark English finished third in an earlier semi in 1:45.47 but missed advancement as faster times followed, costing him his Irish record and likely his final global outdoor final opportunity. McPhillips entered ranked outside the world top-40 but won both his heat and semi-final and will contest Saturday's eight-man final as a genuine medal contender. He was the European U-20 1500m champion in 2021 and missed 11 weeks of training after the European Indoors.
Read at Irish Independent
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