Ireland’s Leon Reid has finished sixth in the men’s 200m at the Diamond League meeting in Rabat.

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.

The indoor 400m is renowned as a full-contact sport, with Thomas Barr feeling the full brunt of it yesterday in Abbotstown, as his bid for the Irish indoor title was shunted aside by rival Andrew Mellon.

On a day that celebrated the past, it was hard not to look to the future. Yesterday’s National Athletics Awards in Blanchardstown may have brought together many current and former greats, but it wasn’t a nostalgic reflection that left a strong sense of optimism.

Medals have a habit of distracting attention, bright and shiny as they are, so to get a feel for the current state of Irish athletics after the European Championships in Berlin you have to step back from Thomas Barr’s brilliant bronze and look at the week as a whole.

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.

Leon Reid has come home seventh in the men’s 200m final at the European Athletics Championships in Berlin.

Marcus Lawler has suffered an early exit in the 200m at the European Athletics Championships in Berlin.

Medal hopes Thomas Barr and Ciara Mageean gave themselves the perfect send-off for next week’s European Championships in Berlin with foot-perfect performances at the Irish Life Health National Championships in Santry yesterday.

Four athletes – no matter which way you dress it up, is a number that should cause concern.

Canada’s Crystal Emmanuel shone brightest at the 66th edition of the Cork City Sports last night, the 25-year-old blasting to a national record of 22.50 in a race in which Bandon’s Phil Healy broke new ground with a huge personal best of 23.32.