Irish Record Holder Thomas Barr Produces Top Class Performances At The Prestigious IAAF Diamond League Meeting In Doha

Irish Record Holder Thomas Barr (Ferrybank AC) finished in third place in the 400m Hurdles in a world class time of 48.99 seconds at the IAAF Diamond League Meeting in Doha on Friday, 15th of May.

Barr was making his debut at this level of competition competing in the prestigious diamond league circuit against the world's best 400m hurdle athletes.
Top Class Opposition.

Barr was drawn in lane seven for the race with two of the pre-race favourites Bershawn Jackson (USA) and Javier Culson (PUR) drawn inside him. Despite the explosive start by Jackson, Barr ran his own race and stormed through the field over the last 100m to finish in third place in a time of 48.99. Jackson won the race in a world leading time of 48.09 with Culson finishing in second place in 48.96 seconds. An impressive performance by the Waterford athlete when you consider both Jackson (2008) and Culson (2012) claimed the bronze medals at the last two Olympic Games.

The time for Barr is very encouraging and closes in on his own Irish record of 48.90 which he set last May. It is a big year for Barr with the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Beijing in August the major target.

A day previous Ciaran O'Lionaird (Leevale AC) opened his outdoor track season at a meeting in Los Angeles with a 10th place finish in the 1,500m in a time of 3.41.04