Tom Barr says missing out on the 400m hurdles in Paris is a "blessing in disguise"
"It was like a kick to my pride," said the man who was one place from a medal in Rio eight years ago. "I shot and missed, in that I put a huge amount of work this year into getting qualified over the hurdles and it didn't pay off"
Tom Barr believes that is a "blessing in disguise" that he didn't qualify for a third Olympics as an individual athlete.
Missing out on ranking points, there was an intense but short two-day grieving process for the man who finished fourth in the 400m hurdles final in Rio.
For Barr, 32 next week, quickly realised that his ability to perform in Paris as part of Ireland's ultra-successful mixed relay team - the World bronze and European gold medal winners of recent months - increased by focusing just on that.
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"I took a little bit of time to grieve about it, to talk about the what ifs, to say this and that, but I think it's been a blessing in disguise because it has taken a huge weight off my shoulders," said the Waterford star.
"There's a lot of work that goes into the hurdles. A lot of work would have gone into the hurdles this month - and it's like my workload has halved.
"I've been able to do training sessions with the rest of the group because they're training on the flat. I'd have been doing it on my own over the hurdles, which I love, I love having that kind of healthy camaraderie within training and it's been very good in that respect.
"So I've been able to really hone in and focus on the flat running, which I think when it comes to running on the flat for the relay, if I'm in the strike four, is a huge, huge benefit and I think that's where we're going to make the most clout.
"With the hurdles, I was never going to be there (competing in the final), compared to the mixed relay. The 400 hurdles was going to be much more difficult to get to the same level for me this year because the event has just moved on so much in the last couple of years."
Barr was initially crestfallen after winning his 12th 400m hurdle national title in Santry a fortnight ago. He knew crossing the finish line that a poor effort by his standards would not earn him the ranking points he needed to on the start line in Paris for that final solo shot before hanging up his spikes.
"I saw 50.6 on the clock and how I completely messed up my race," he recalled yesterday, explaining that a tight Achilles that grey June day caused his stride to slightly shorten from the blocks to the first hurdle.
He spent the first half of the race taking hurdles with his right leg, when he normally leads off the left. It was a matter of survive and get to the finish line at that point," he said, but the disappointment was diluted by the huge reception he received from the big crowd at Morton Stadium.
"It was like a kick to my pride. I shot and missed, in that I put a huge amount of work this year into getting qualified for Paris over the hurdles and it didn't pay off.
"Yeah, look, I'm not going to sugar coat it, it was very disappointing because it's been my game for so long and I had qualified for a championships every single year since 2011.
"This is the first one that I really felt I missed out on but, checking my privilege, I've been lucky to have had that kind of a track record."
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