Thomas Barr has failed to progress to the final of the 400m hurdles at the European Championships in Munich this morning.
Barr was out in the first semi-final and finished third in his race behind Wilifried Happio and Joshua Abuaku. The 2018 European bronze medalist started well and was first over the hurdles during the opening quarter or so of the race.
His competitors reeled him in however, leaving Barr with a mountain to climb over the final 100 metres. The Waterford man finished strong though, and powered his way through the field to clinch third place.
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However, with only the top two from each semi-final qualifying automatically, the veteran of Irish athletics was left to wait and see whether his time of 49.30 would be enough to see him into the final as a fastest loser.
Unfortunately for the 30-year old, both Julien Watrin (48.81) and Julien Bonvin (49.10) finished third and fourth respectively in their semi-final, with Norwegian superstar Karsten Warholm romping to victory. They took the 'hot seats,' meaning Barr's hopes of reaching the final had evaporated before the third semi-final even began.
The third semi-final heat was quite slow and as a result, Watrin and Bonvin progressed to the final as nobody bettered their times. For Barr, it was heartbreak, as just 0.20 seconds separated him from a place in a European final.
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