Brilliant Thomas Barr produces performance of his life to reach 400m hurdle final

Unbelievable!

Thomas Barr produced the performance of his life to win his semi-final and reach the final of the men's 400m hurdle at the Olympic Stadium in Rio. The 24-year-old has had an extremely tough year with injury but all that is in the past as he jumped brilliantly to give Ireland a chance at a first medal in the 400m hurdles since Bob Tisdall won gold in Los Angeles in 1932. Barr played the perfect tactical race, jumping cleanly and not losing composure as others made the early running. He was in fourth place as they turned into the home straight but the Waterford man turned on the burners and left the field for dead. He finished in a time of 48.39, an Irish record and a personal best. Barr goes into the final as the third-ranked of all the qualifiers and will be in with a real shout of a most unlikely medal. That final is on Thursday at 4pm Irish time so cancel whatever you have planned. Thomas needs your support.