Thomas Barr joins elite Irish club with University gold

Thomas Barr etched his name into the history books yesterday morning when becoming the fourth Irish athlete to win gold at the World University Games.

Barr held the tag of favourite when stepping onto the Gwangju track for the final of the 400m hurdles having posted the fastest time in Thursday’s semis.

And following a titanic battle with Algeria’s Abdelmalik Lahoulou coming down the home straight, the 22-year old Waterford native claimed gold in a time of 48.78, joining Ronnie Delaney, Sonia O’Sullivan and Niall Bruton in a most elite club.

Lahoulou edged in front clearing the final hurdle, but Barr’s trademark strong finish took him clear of the Algerian sprinter and the fast-finishing Ivan Shablyuev of Russia. Barr will now turn his attentions to the World Championships in Beijing at the end of August.

Elsewhere on the track, John Travers (Donore Harriers) put in a brave performance to finish 9th in the 1,500m final in 3:42.63. Travers’ father passed away between the heats and the final and the middle-distance runner mustered up an excellent performance given the circumstances. Russia’s Aleksei Kharitonov won in 3:39.13.

UCD’s Ciara Everard placed sixth in the women’s 800m final, crossing the line in 2.02.47. Gold went to New Zealand’s Angela Kate Petty (1:59.06).

There was a second medal for the Irish to celebrate in the South Korean city, Fiona Doyle securing silver in the 50m breaststroke final on the concluding day of action in the pool.

23-year old Doyle, who is based at the University of Calgary in Canada, added silver to the bronze medal picked up in the 100m breaststroke.

The slowest qualifier into the final and drawn in lane 8, the Limerick woman produced an outstanding swim to touch the wall second in a time of 31.09.