Central Plains FFA Chapter

08/12 12:40 CDT Irish runner Mark English breaks European championships record in 800 meters Irish runner Mark English breaks European championships record in 800 meters BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) --- Irish middle-distance runner Mark English broke a longstanding European championships record in the 800 meters when he won his semifinal heat on Wednesday. English finished in 1 minute, 43.49 seconds to eclipse Olaf Beyer's championship record of 1:43.84 set in 1978 in Prague. "It is nice to have the record, for sure, and I felt really good doing it. But there will be a lot of really good guys in the final tomorrow, a lot of really talented runners, so I'll need to discuss tactics now after this," the 33-year-old English said as he looked ahead to Thursday's final. Beyer, who represented East Germany, had upset British stars Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe for the title 48 years ago. "I saw the record before the race and I thought it would probably be broken by someone at these championships," said English, a two-time bronze medalist at the European championships. English gave a shoutout to the Irish fans at Alexander Stadium: "I heard them before the race, I heard them during the race, I heard them after it. I think close to 15 percent of tickets sold went to Irish fans so it's amazing to (be) running in front of such a crowd." Britain's Ben Pattison finished second in English's heat, crossing in 1:43.72. ___ AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports