IRELAND’S THOMAS BARR will not feature in the 400m hurdles final at the European Athletics Championships after finishing fifth today.
The 23-year-old ran a season-best time of 50.09 in Amsterdam, but it wasn’t enough to progress.
“I’m very disappointed with the time,” he told Will Downing for the Irish Sports Network afterwards. “I know I missed a lot of training but I definitely felt fitter out there.
“It didn’t happen for me and I just didn’t get going with the hurdles. I had my head in the race but I just couldn’t get me body to follow suit.”
Running in Lane 1, Brian Gregan also failed to make it into the final of the 400m after claiming seventh in his semi-final with a time of 46.37.
“Listen, a couple of weeks ago I was in hospital with gastroenteritis and I didn’t think my season was going to happen,” explained Gregan. “But slow but surely it came together.
“Obviously I want better. Once you get there, no matter what happened beforehand, you want to run better and faster. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for me today.
“I’ll be back stronger and back in the 45s very soon.”
Barr and Gregan are both involved in the Men’s 4x400m relay on Saturday.
Elsewhere, there was better news for fellow Team Ireland athletes Amy Foster and Marcus Lawler, who both advanced to semi-finals.
100m runner Foster came third in her heat with a time of 11.57, while Lawler ran 21.06 to qualify as the fastest loser in the 200m.
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