'More aggressive' approach to racing pays off for Mark English

Job done.

The aim for Mark English was to return to Dublin Airport with a European medal, and at lunchtime today that is exactly what transpired.

The 29-year-old believes a new approach was key to his success at the European Athletics Championships in Munich.

"It's nice to be home," the 800m-bronze-medal winner told RTÉ Sport. "It's been a whirlwind last 24 hours.

"I didn't get much sleep but it's nice to come back and see my sister and my auntie holding an Irish flag, it's amazing.

"I've been running my races a little more aggressively of late, thankfully that paid off and I was able to come away with a medal.

"I wanted to be in contention after the first 400 metres and then to be in the top 2-3 at 600 metres. I know that if you're in those places at those points then you're more than likely be in the medals".

We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

This medal-winning experience contrasted significantly to his bronze at the 2014 European Championships.

"It does feel different because in Zurich I wasn't expected to medal at all when I made the final because I qualified as a fastest qualifier. This time I was among the medal favourites".

A busy summer schedule continues for English when he competes at the World Athletics Continental Tour meet at Rovereto, Italy in eight days' time, with possibly another race to follow.

While English and Ciara Mageean provided the obvious highlights from an Irish perspective at the championships, the 16th place finish on the team table indicates an overall strength in depth.

Sarah Lavin