Eight years after making his major international breakthrough in Zurich, Mark English attributed winning a second 800m bronze medal at the European Championships to his unsated "hunger".
Gold medallist Mariano Garcia of Spain and runner-up Jake Wightman had to be at or near the peak of their powers to finish in front of English in Munich, with Garcia recording a personal best and 1500m world champion Wightman clocking a season's best as English finished third in one minute 45.19 seconds.
The Letterkenny man jostled for position in the early stages and raced prominently, grittily repelling the challenge of Andreas Kramer to finish on the podium.
English, who has successfully balanced the demands of qualifying as a doctor alongside his track career in the years since the 2016 European Championships, believes his unrelenting appetite for the sport played a significant role in his latest success.
"I still have the hunger for it, that's always the big thing, I think," the 29-year-old told RTÉ Sport. "I’ve heard from a lot of older athletes that the hunger can go and it’s tough to keep it up.
"I’ve had a good year this year. I came 10th at the Worlds and I came third here. I’ll count that as an achievement this year. I’m really happy.
"I just need to power on now and try to get the qualification for the Worlds next year. I think the standard has actually gone up again, so I'll try to get as many ranking points as I can while I'm in good shape."
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Reflecting on how the race unfolded, he added: "I feel pretty chuffed. It probably went exactly as I thought it would from an objective point of view, so I'm really happy to come away with a medal.
"I had a feeling that Garcia would make a move at the same point as he did yesterday, so I was looking at the screen waiting for him.
"I could see him making his move and I just moved to the front. I figured if I could slot in behind him on the inside rail the whole way, that would be a good move.
"I was actually quite goosed out there tonight, it was difficult to hold on, so I was really thankful I came away with a medal.
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"I was absolutely flat out, there was nothing else I could give. I'm just really, really happy that I held on.
"Jake was always going to be strong in that last 100m – he’s a 1500m world champion – and Garcia looked a million bucks in the semi-final yesterday."
