On a night where bitterly cold and squally conditions affected some events in the Swedish capital, Barr clocked a reasonable 50.28 seconds in a 400m hurdles showpiece won by European and world champion Karsten Warholm of Norway.

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.

The planning started from his sick bed. It was August 2017, and Thomas Barr was lying in his hotel room in London, his World Championships brought to a grinding halt by gastroenteritis, which had reduced a world-class athlete to a sweating, vomiting wreck on the most important day of his year.