The prize ahead is one he’s yet to get his hands on, an achievement Thomas Barr would dearly love to secure here in the desert city of Doha, Qatar: a world final.

Thomas Barr has breezed through to the semi-finals of the men’s 400m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, as new European holder Karsten Warholm staked his claim to successfully defend his world title in Qatar.

Thomas Barr had to make do with fourth-place at tonight’s latest Diamond League meeting in Rome, but the Waterford star did record his second-fastest 400m hurdles of the season as Rai Benjamin of the United States decimated the field.