There's hope yet for Waterford's Thomas Barr of making the Olympic 400m hurdles final despite not qualifying.
Barr came 4th in his semi-final in Tokyo, running a season's best time of 48.26 seconds, but given the times in the other semi-finals, he was not fast enough to make it into the last eight.
Barr’s hopes of advancing now rest upon an appeal the Irish team management is expected to lodge concerning potential infractions by athletes in another heat, with a decision expected later tonight.
If either of the athletes concerned are disqualified, Barr would advance to Tuesday’s final.
Up until the seventh hurdle of his own leg, Barr had ran the race of his life - before clattering the frame with his trail leg which halted his momentum. He did still recover to run his second fastest ever race.
“For it to fall apart like that in a split second is frustrating but that’s the game I’m in, the hurdles, and I was one of the unlucky ones,” he said.
“It’s such a shame because that’s the second fastest time I’ve ever run and it’d probably have been 47-something. It was frustrating. It’s going to be a tough one to follow. I came in here as a contender, I’ve been a contender all year and I couldn’t do it on a day where I felt really good.”
The appeals process is expected to go long into the night in Tokyo.
