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Mark English set a personal best of 1:42.78 to finish sixth in the 800m final at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, while Rhasidat Adeleke missed out on the 200m final.
Mark English finished sixth in the men's 800m final at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Sunday night, clocking a personal best of 1:42.78.
The Donegal athlete and European champion was contesting his first global senior final. He collected $14,000 for sixth place. Algeria's Djamel Sedjati moved from third to first in the last 50 metres to win in 1:41.91, claiming the $150,000 prize for the new ultimate champion. It is the largest ever first-place prize in the history of the sport, part of the record $10 million (€8.59 million) purse on offer across the weekend.
Individual winners pocket $150,000 (€129,300), with each competitor enjoying a pay day. Canada's Marco Arop was second in 1:42.28 on the same track where he won the 2023 world title. Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi, the 22-year-old Olympic and world champion who has run the fastest time this year with 1:41.76, finished third in 1:42.44.
English was sitting back in sixth after the first lap, passed in a fast 49.68 seconds, and despite unleashing another big kick down the homestretch, he could not make up any more ground on the frontrunners. English, 33, won his semi-final on Saturday in 1:43.74. The Donegal doctor lowered his personal best once more in the final, improving on his previous mark of 1:42.97 set at the London Diamond League meet in July.
He has repeatedly threatened Cian McPhillips' national record across a superb season, but the 1:42.15 mark endures. Rhasidat Adeleke narrowly missed out on a spot in the 200m final, the last event on Sunday night. The Tallaght sprinter finished fifth in her semi-final in 22.81, visibly disappointed after a tired-looking performance. Starting in lane three, she had Olympic champion Gabby Thomas and world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden of the US in the lanes outside her.
A surprisingly slow start left her chasing them from the gun, and her time was short of her national record of 22.28 set when winning the European Championships silver medal in Birmingham last month. Only the top four progressed to the final. Sixth coming into the straight, Adeleke finished strongly to blast past Lavanya Williams of Jamaica, but could not quite close on the four women ahead of her.
Switzerland's Fabienne Hoenke, who finished fourth in Birmingham when Adeleke won silver, held on for the last qualifying spot in 22.72. Thomas took the win in 21.88, with Jefferson-Wooden second in 22.15. After the second semi-final, won by Britain's European champion Amy Hunt in 22.22, Adeleke ended up ranked 10th of the 15 finishers, which still earned the Dublin sprinter $8,000.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas was disqualified for a lane infringement after originally qualifying for the final, which bumped Adeleke up another place. Adeleke, who turned 24 at the end of last month, is set to race one more time over 200m this season in London next Friday at the all-women Athlos meeting, where the winners of each event take home $60,000.
Sharlene Mawdsley was the other Irish athlete in action in Budapest, missing out on progression to the 400m final on Friday night.
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IrishTimes:Mark English runs a new personal best as he finishes sixth in 800m final at Ultimate ChampionshipThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Ireland Mark English Rhasidat Adeleke Sprinting World Athletics Ultimate Championship 800M Final 200M Semi-Final
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