Thomas Barr (born 24 July 1992) is an Irish

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competes in the

sprints Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle * Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint ...

and hurdles.

International career

In 2014, Barr was a semi-finalist at the

2014 European Athletics Championships The 2014 European Athletics Championships was held in Zürich, Switzerland, between 12 and 17 August 2014. It was the first time that Switzerland had hosted the European Athletics Championships since 1954. Great Britain headed the medal table, w ...

in the

400 meter hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

. In 2015, he finished 3rd at the

Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix The Doha Diamond League is an annual one-day track and field meeting held at the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium The Suheim bin Hamad Stadium (), also known as Qatar SC Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Doha, Qatar. It is currently used mostly for ...

as part of the

2015 IAAF Diamond League The 2015 Diamond League was the sixth season of the annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It consisted of fourteen one-day meetings, starting on 15 May in Do ...

. Barr won gold in the 400 metres hurdles at the

2015 World University Games ) , Nations participating = 143 , Athletes participating = 12,885 , Events = 272 in 21 sports , Opening ceremony = , Closing ceremony = , Officially opened by = Park Geun-hye , Athlete's Oath = Kim Seong-yeon and Kim Kuk-young , Judge's Oath = K ...

(Summer Universiade) in Gwangju, South Korea with a time of 48.78 seconds. On 15 August at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, Barr finished second in his heat of the

400m hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Summer Olympics, Olympic athletics (sport), athletics programme since 1900 Summer Olympics, 1900 for men and since 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 for women. On a s ...

in a season best time of 48.93. The following day he broke the Irish record and won his semi-final to qualify for the final in a time of 48.39. He finished fourth in the final, again breaking the Irish record with a time of 47.97. In August 2017, Barr was forced to withdraw from the

semi-final heats at the

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: * 17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japane ...

after a bout of gastroenteritis. On 9 August 2018, Barr won bronze in the

at the

2018 European Athletics Championships The 2018 European Athletics Championships were held in Berlin, Germany, from 6 to 12 August 2018. The championships were part of the first European Championships with other events happening in the United Kingdom. For the second Championships in a ...

with a season best time of 48.31, his second fastest time ever.

Awards

In April 2015, Barr was named the

European Athlete of the Month The European Athlete of the Month is an award that can be won by athletes participating in events within the sport of athletics organised by the European Athletic Association (EAA). The election has been organised since 2007. Winners ...

for, in part, being part of a national relay record and having a world-best time in the 400 metre hurdles. Barr was named as the ''2016 Athlete of the Year'' at the National Athletics Awards on 30 November 2016.

Records

Barr holds the Irish national record in the 400 metre hurdles. In 2014 he was also part of the relay team that set the Irish national record in the

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, th ...

Personal life

Barr is the younger brother of Irish Olympic track athlete

Jessie Barr Jessie Barr (born 24 July 1989 in Waterford, Ireland) is an Irish athlete who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Early life Jessie is from Dunmore East in Waterford and she attended the local girls primary school, the Light of Christ Natio ...

. He is from

Dunmore East Dunmore East () is a popular tourist and fishing village in County Waterford, Ireland. Situated on the west side of Waterford Harbour on Ireland's southeastern coast, it lies within the barony of Gaultier (''Gáll Tír'' – "foreigners' land" ...

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

where he attended Killea boys primary school and De la Salle school, Waterford. He also has a sister Becky and his parents are Tommy and Martina Barr.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, Thomas 1992 births Irish male hurdlers Living people World Athletics Championships athletes for Ireland Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Ireland Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) European Championships (multi-sport event) bronze medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Universiade gold medalists for Ireland Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics