Mark English furthers his need for speed with new Donegal 400m record in Switzerland

Mark English clocked a new Donegal 400m on Sunday.

The Finn Valley AC man, competing in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, wiped out his own previous county record from 2014.

With the Olympic Games now firmly in view English ran a lap of Stade de la Charrière in 46.19 seconds.

That lowered his previous record, the 46.56 seconds he ran in Belfast in July, 2014.

At the Resisprint International, a part of the World Athletics Continental Tour, English's outing is a pointer to Paris.

English is an 800m specialist, but his time here is the third fastest by an Irishman in 2024 and faster than Thomas Barr and Cillin Greene, who won World Relay medals this year.

When winning the National 800m title recently – the 18^th Irish senior crown of his career – English said: “I need that finishing speed. I need that going into Paris. I have a few races in my plan now, but it's full steam ahead towards Paris now.”

The Letterkenny man will compete in Paris over 800m. A four-time European medallist, English has taken the Irish record to 1:44.69 and then 1:44.53, sealing his place at the Olympics in the process.

English's time in Switzerland is also a new Finn Valley AC club record, bettering the 47.12 seconds of Brian Doyle from 2006.

Meanwhile, in the women's high jump at the Morton Games in Santry on Friday night, Sommer Lecky of Finn Valley was fourth. Clearing a best of 1.78m, Lecky came fourth in the event won by Lithuanian Urte Baikstyte with a 1.86m leap.

Three nights earlier at the Cork City Sports, Lecky was joint third with Asia Tavernini from Italy, going over at 1.75m. Hungary's Fedra Fekete was the gold medal winner, clearly 1.83m.