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Barr facing a nervous wait for Olympic qualification

Barr facing a nervous wait for Olympic qualification
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Thomass Barr will have to wait to find out if he qualifies for the Paris Olympics.

The Dunmore native picked up his 12th National 400m hurdles title on Sunday morning at Morton Stadium, winning in 50.61.

The time alone will not be enough to secure Barr his place in Paris and now he will need to see what way the world rankings look on Monday morning.

An automatic qualifying standard of 48.70 is required to take a guaranteed spot at the games, with Barr unable to hit the requirement in his efforts so far this season.

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In Saturday's heat, the Ferrybank AC man clocked 49.64 as he set out to hit the time before the final, possibly draining the legs ahead of Sunday.

In order to qualify through the "back door," Barr will need to be inside the top 40 in the world at the close of business on Sunday night and with National Championships being run off across the globe this weekend, his peers will be hoping to climb those rankings also.

Barr will almost certainly be part of the Irish mixed relay team for Paris following their European Gold winning race in Italy, but his standing as a solo hurdler will not be settled until late on Sunday night.

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