English 'not counting chickens' ahead of tough European semi-finals

Mark English comfortably moved into the semi-finals of the European Championships in Munich, but the Donegal man admitted he had a moment of panic following the first lap of the 800m heat.

The 2014 European bronze medallist was quickly into his stride, running in behind French athlete Benjamin Robert, and while looking comfortable and in control, English felt that he was getting boxed in and needed to adjust his position.

Midway through the final lap, English spotted a gap on the inside of Robert and put himself in prime position to control his final 200 metres.

English eased through to take the heat in a time of 1:47.54 to advance to Friday's semi-finals

"I was panicking a little bit after the first lap as I was boxed in, so thankfully, that opened up," said English.

"There were a lot of good guys in that race, it was a world championship calibre [race]. You had a world silver medallist in there and four guys who made the world semi-finals, and I knew if I left it any longer, I wouldn’t have been able to move out."

But aside from that anxious moment down the back straight, it was a business-like performance from the Letterkenny man who believes that the real test will begin in the semi-finals.

"I had a little bit more (in reserve), and I was looking at the screen a lot; I basically was looking at the screen for the last 50 metres," said English.

"I haven’t really been tested properly, and I don’t think the other guys were going flat out either, I’ll find out a lot more tomorrow.

"There a lot of talented guys, and I wouldn’t say there is one clear favourite, but there are a lot of good guys. So I won’t count my chickens just yet."

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