It was a promising weekend for Irish athletics with Thomas Barr and Mark English enjoying the perfect build-up to the European Championships with some world class performances.
Barr was in excellent form when setting an Irish 400m hurdles record of 48.90 in Geneva, Switzerland on Saturday to place him top of the European rankings.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” said Barr of his sub 49 second performance edging him into world class territory and improved upon his Irish record of 49.61 which he set two weeks ago in Belgium.
“I knew I was in shape to go fast and this performance opens doors for me now to get into bigger meets.”
English continues to enhance his reputation at the Diamond League in New York, where he finished second in 1:45.03 behind Olympic champion David Rudisha’s 1:44.63.
“I’m very pleased,” said English. “I’m improving race to race this season and it’s not often you finish five metres behind the man (Rudisha) himself.
