Mark English has set a new Irish 800m record and has booked his place at the Tokyo Olympics after he ran a time of 1:44.71 in Castellon last night.
English finished second behind Algerian Yassine Hethat and crucially came in under the Olympic standard of 1:45.20.
After the disappointment of failing to qualify for the final at the Rio Olympics in 2016 English says he "couldn't be happier" with his performance yesterday (June 29).
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The Irish athlete smashed David Matthews' record of 1:44.82 which had stood since 1995.
Matthews congratulated the athlete on Twitter last night.
"Congrats @markenglish_on your New 800mtrs record," he said.
"I borrowed it off Marcus O’Sullivan 26 years ago, he borrowed it from Niall O’Shaughnessy....Noel Carroll & Ronnie Delany & that’s the last 70yrs of 800mtrs in (Ireland) it gave me great pride and many opportunities."
The 28-year-old's best previous time was 1:44.8, recorded back in London in 2013.
Taking to social media, English said: "I couldn’t be happier with tonight’s performance.
"@DavidMatthews2 record stood for 26 years and there’s a reason for that.
"8 years I’ve been fighting for a PB and finally I have one.
"Thanks coach @FeidhlimKelly and @dublintrackclub for the help. @finnvalleyac"
In Lucerne, Tyrone's Eilish Flanagan could well be in the running for a place at the games after she ran a time of 9:42.71 in the 3,000m steeplechase.
The 24-year-old was ranked 55th in the most recent update, with athletes having to be in the top 45 to qualify.
However it now appears she may have done enough to move into a spot for Tokyo.
The delayed Olympics are scheduled to get under way on Friday, July 23 with the closing ceremony on Sunday, August 8.
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