Mark English has qualified for the men's 800m final at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands after a third placed finish in his semi-final heat.
The top-three finish in the second semi on Saturday evening ensured that the four-time Olympian advanced automatically, but fellow Team Ireland middle-distance runner Cian McPhillips missed out on progression from the first heat.
English was third after the first lap of his semi-final behind Belgium's Eliott Crestan and Spanish athlete Mariano Garcia, and the Donegal man kept himself in contention throughout to cross the line third in 1:45.89.
Garcia slipped out of the top three as fast-finishing Samuel Chapple of Netherlands overtook English to finish second and seal automatic qualification on home soil.
"It's a massive weight off the shoulder," English told RTÉ Sport's David Gillick as he turns his attention towards aiming for a medal on Sunday.
"As I said yesterday, it's a new day today and it'll be a new day again tomorrow. So I'll get back and get rested and get ready for that (final)."
On the race, the veteran of a European Indoor silver from 2015 and a bronze in 2019, added: "My plan was to be in contention for as much of it as possible. I feel like I did that. There were maybe one or two surprises in terms of who came up on the outside but thankfully it paid off and I got through."
McPhillips, who like English, had come through a bustling and bruising heat on Friday in 1:57.35, however missed out on a place in the final.
It's not to be for Cian McPhillips, who finished seventh in his European Indoor Athletics Championships 800m semi-final after a strong running start
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Running in the opening semi-final heat, the Longford man made his way towards the front early, sitting on the shoulder of Poland's Maciej Wyderka alongside Dutchman Ryan Clarke.
But the 22-year-old was unable to keep up that pace as he fell back to seventh in a time of 1:47.40.
"I worked hard throughout January to get back and got here which I was kind of surprised with at the time but I'd take that and I ran well," he said, before outlining how a fall in Friday's heat had impacted him.
"So I would've been, back of my mind, trying to make a final would have been the goal here. But I just didn't have it.
"That fall yesterday kind of knocked a bit out of me"
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 8, 2025
Cian McPhillips reflects on missing out on the men's 800m final at the European Indoors and the consequences of yesterday's fall in the heats
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"That fall yesterday kind of knocked a bit out of me. I kind of hurt my knee and seized up my calf so I think the first actual stride I did quicker than jogging pace was only a couple of hours ago.
"I just bashed the anti-inflammatories. But that's no excuse, I just didn't have it today. They were too good. I did try, I put myself up there.
"Just the shape of the track, it's the best chance you have and I just wasn't good enough."
Earlier, Bori Akinola missed out on a place in the men's 60m final after a fourth-place finish in his semi-final heat.
The UCD AC sprinter, who won the National Indoor title last month ahead of this first major championship appearance for Ireland, had qualified for the semi-finals from Saturday's morning session in a time of 6.66.
Running in the evening's second semi-final heat of three, Akinola made a fast start and improved on his earlier time with a 6.63.
But it wasn't enough to be among the eight who advanced to the final, finishing fourth in his heat and 11th quickest overall.
Akinola said he could take positives from the time he set but rued not being able to find that bit extra to progress.
"I'm just disappointed. Looking at the time, I thought I was good, I thought I had it good, thought I was in good shape but I didn't bring my best at the championships and that's very disappointing," he said.
"Considering (6.63) would be my second fastest time I've ever run, I guess that's a positive. But I was hoping to get it quicker just to get the B standard for Worlds in two weeks. But it's not to be this time unfortunately."
Britain's Jeremiah Azu set a European leading 6.52 in the first heat to set the standard for the eventual qualifiers to the final, before going on to take gold ahead of ahead of Sweden's Henrik Larsson.
Watch the 2025 European Indoor Championships from Thursday to Sunday with coverage across RTÉ2, RTÉ Player and the RTÉ News Channel
