Rio Olympics finalist Thomas Barr made a very promising start to the critical 2019 season with a third place finish in the 400-metre hurdles at the Shanghai Diamond League.
The Waterford sprinter's time of 49.41 was just half a second off the Tokyo 2020 qualification standard of 48.90.
The race was won by Abderrahman Samba of Qatar in 47.27 with USA’s Ben Rai in second in 47.80.
Speaking after the race Barr said: "I’m very happy with that, I felt smooth and easy from the get go."
Barr will next race in the Stockholm Diamond League on 30 May. His main target for the 2019 season is the IAAF World Championships scheduled from 27 September to 6 October 2019 in Doha, Qatar.
