Thomas Barr's Olympics is over after appeal hopes dashed

There was insufficient video evidence of potential infractions by athletes in the other semi-final races

Ireland's Thomas Barr reacts after the first semi-final of the Men's 400 metres hurdles at the Olympic Stadium on the ninth day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan. Picture date: Sunday August 1, 2021. Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire. 

Fine margins, a game of inches, and in the end just a single one of them cost Thomas Barr a place in the Olympic final. A frustrating weekend for the Irish in Tokyo went from bad to worse on Sunday night as the 400m hurdler endured the worst kind of heartache – that of remorse, regret, and a lingering sense of what might have been.

Barr’s hopes of advancing to the final via a potential appeal by Irish team management were also dashed just before midnight in Tokyo, with officials ruling there was insufficient video evidence of two alleged infractions by athletes in another heat – one a lane violation, one an issue with hooking hurdles (swinging a trail leg around the outside of the barrier, beneath its height).