Mark English has set a new Irish record in the 800m to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

The County Donegal native ran a time of 1 minute 44.69 seconds to finish second behind Sweden’s Andreas Kramer at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland.

The mark shaved 0.02 seconds off the 31-year-old’s previous national record and was inside the automatic Olympic qualifying standard of 1:44.70.

It means English will travel to a third Olympic Games having previously represented Ireland in Rio and Tokyo.

His qualification came after a disappointing showing at the European Championships in Rome this month where he exited in the first round with a time of 1:46.73.

Elsewhere at the meeting in Finland, Irish runners enjoyed a one-two in the men’s 1500m with Cathal Doyle taking the win in 3 minutes 34.09 seconds, beating Luke McCann by 0.23 seconds.

Sarah Lavin, who has already booked her place in Paris, ran a seasonal best of 12.66 seconds to finish third in the 60m hurdles.