English had run in the middle of the pack through the opening half of today's race, with 400m reached in 51.12, and he was still only fifth with 50 metres to run. But he kept a cool head to thread a path to the front, overtaking runner-up Kethobogile Haingura (1:43.89) in the final metres, with USA's Brandon Miller third in 1:44.00.
There was heartbreak for Cian McPhillips in the men's 800m at the World Championships in Tokyo on Saturday, the Longford 23-year-old finishing fourth despite producing a massive national record of 1:42.15. It took three Olympic medallists to beat him, with 2024 champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi setting a championship record of 1:41.86, edging Algeria's Djamel Sedjati (1:41.90) and Canada's Marco Arop (1:41.95).
McPhillips, 23, had been ultra impressive in his heat but few expected him to contend for the win in his semi-final, given the calibre of opposition, but the Longford man was class personified as he eased to the front on the final bend and kicked clear down the home straight, taking victory ahead of Britain's Max Burgin (1:43.37) and USA's former world champion Donavan Brazier (1:43.82).
Healy threw herself into contention for a top-eight finish as the field of 14 set off at a decent tempo, with Kipyegon towing them through 400m in 63.96 and 800m in 2:07.27. The Dubliner settled in the middle of the pack and had moved up to seventh at one point, but didn't quite have the strength to hold on to it.
