Thomas Barr: 'I hate to leave a championships on this note' 

The Waterford man finished fifth in the 400m hurdles semi-final at the World Championships in a display which he described as “the most disappointing performance” ever at a championships.

Thomas Barr said he “just fell apart” in his 400m hurdles semi-final at the World Championships in Oregon last night,

Thomas Barr said he “just fell apart” in his 400m hurdles semi-final at the World Championships in Oregon last night, the 29-year-old finishing fifth in 50.08, which he described as “the most disappointing performance” ever at a championships. The race was won by Rai Benjamin in 48.44, with the second automatic final spot taken in 49.09 – a time well within Barr’s compass.

“50-point – I can run that in my sleep,” he said. “It was set up for me, it was well open, it’s a missed opportunity.” 

Drawn on the lane inside Benjamin, the second fastest man in history, Barr blasted through the first 200m to keep himself in contention but a headwind on the back straight forced him to adjust his stride pattern at hurdle six. He was in contention for an automatic spot around the final bend but a mistake and stumble at the eighth hurdle put paid to his chances.

“I was really thrown off,” he said. “I’m not sure what happened and I lost so much momentum that it was very hard for me to dig in and keep going.” 

He had missed more than a month of training after picking up an injury in his Achilles tendon in May, which left him short of fitness coming in, but Barr impressed in his heat on Saturday, finishing second in 49.15. “I’m definitely lacking that race rhythm and race practice,” he said.

The one positive? Barr now has a clean bill of health and a great opportunity to put the disappointment behind him at next month’s European Championships. “It’ll definitely stand to me in Munich and, look, I hate to leave a championships on this note, but it’s back to the drawing board. But no excuses. Hopefully it’ll be better next time.” There was also bitter disappointment for Andrew Coscoran, who ran well below his usual standards, trailing in 12th in 3:44.66. “I was a bit tired today, I felt my hamstrings were a bit dead,” he said.

“I should be able to do rounds back to back – that’s what we train for. I had no pop. If it was a bit slower, I might have been able to hang on. It slowed down the second lap and I tried to move up near the front, I knew that was my only move because I was tired. We’ll reevaluate and go again.”