Confidence high as Thomas Barr ready to take on the world

The evening prior to his Diamond League debut in mid-May, Thomas Barr posted a picture of the men’s 400m hurdles startlist on his Instagram account.

Barr’s personal best of 48.90, set the previous summer, was the slowest of the eight athletes. Neither perturbed nor fazed by the exalted company he’d stand alongside in Doha, Barr signed off the picture with the hashtag #takingontheworld.

The 23-year old would finish third in the Qatar capital and has spent the rest of the summer making good on that hashtag. A national record of 48.65 was recorded the following month in Rome before World University Games gold was struck in Gwangju.