Mark English lowers 800m national record again in Madrid

Mark English has lowered his national 800m record for the second time in a week with a superb 1:44.53 run to finish fourth at the Continental Tour meeting in Madrid on Friday night.

On Tuesday, English clocked a new Irish record of 1:44.69 in Turku in Finland, achieving the Olympic qualification standard in the process.

Last night, the Finn Valley AC athlete took a further .16 off that time in the Spanish capital to place fourth in a race won by Belgium's Eliott Crestan.

It marks a welcome return to form for the two-time European bronze medallist after a disappointing showing in this month's European Athletics Championships in Rome, the Donegal man exiting in his heat.

Prior to this week, English's own national record stood at 1:44.71, which he posted in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics three years ago and which itself broke David Matthews' longstanding Irish record of 1:44.82, which had stood since 1995.