Shock wasn’t the right word, nor could you say it was a huge surprise, so if anything Thomas Barr’s bronze medal at last night’s European Championships proved a delightful deliverance on his talent, an ode to his outstanding ability at the event they call the man-killer.

Nation-hopping athletes have been one of the biggest issues in international athletics for many years and Thomas Barr believes the crackdown on the trend hasn’t come a moment too soon.

It was the hope that killed him. At the end of the most important race of his life, Thomas Barr leaned for the line with every fibre of his being, hoping but not knowing whether it was enough for a medal in the men’s 400m hurdles yesterday afternoon.