A superbly timed run by Mark English has secured his place in another 800 metres final at the European Championship as the Donegal athlete nailed victory in his semi-final in a championship record of 1:43.49, a time which had stood since 1978.Lining up in the second of two semi-finals, English needed to finish inside the top three, with the two fastest times also progressing to the final. Buoyed by the notable Irish support inside the Alexander Stadium, English sat in third place at the bell, passed in a snappy 51.36.Despite losing some ground around the top bend, English never panicked, and once the space opened up down the homestretch there was no stopping him. Britain’s Ben Pattison was second in 1:43.72.The previous championship record had stood to Olaf Beyer from East Germany, his time of 1:43.84 set in 1978.The first semi-final was equally lively, won by Britain’s Max Burgin in 1:44.80, and he’ll certainly be another title challenger come Thursday’s final (9.28pm). Burgin made an explosive move with 200m remaining, cruising to victory from there, with French medal hope Gabriel Tual run out of the qualifying spots, finishing sixth in 1:45.88.At 33, English has been running better than ever, his 1:42.97 the fastest European time this season. He will now look to continue his excellent medal streak at this level. From the five European finals he’s contested, he’s won five medals – two bronze outdoors (2014 and 2022), and three indoors (two bronze, in 2019 and 2025, and one silver 2015).Ireland’s Sophie Becker in action during the heats of the 400m at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Earlier in the session, a season’s best over 400 metres was just enough to earn Sophie Becker a place in the semi-finals, the Dublin athlete running a neatly balanced race to nail third place in Wednesday morning’s qualifying heats.After a troubled start to the season with illness and injury, Becker has come back into form at the right time, her 52.28 seconds eclipsing her season best of 52.36, and enough to see her through into Thursday’s semi-finals (12.45pm).Across the three opening round heats, the top 13 fastest times all progressed, with Becker’s heat won by Eveline Saalberg from the Netherlands in 51.65. All six athletes in the last heat ran faster, but Becker ended up ranked 13th from across the three heats, thus getting another run.The 29-year-old was Ireland’s sole representative in the 400m, after the withdrawal through injury of Rachal McCann and then Sharlene Mawdsley. Ireland’s Lauren Roy in action during the heats of the 200m. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Lauren Roy also earned her place in the semi-finals of the 200m later this evening, the Ballymena athlete finishing fourth in her heat in 23.20 seconds.Running in lane nine, Roy started well and held her form down the homestretch, with Boglárka Takács from Hungary taking the win in 22.84 seconds. Run into a slight -0.9m/s headwind, Roy was outside her best of 22.83, but still put herself in a strong qualifying position.The top-12 across the three heats all progressed to the semi-finals, and Roy ended up ranked sixth best, and will now join Rhasidat Adeleke, who got a bye into the semi-finals later this evening (8.20pm), with the Dublin athlete ranked 12th best in Europe.