Thomas Barr: 'It’s definitely my last Olympics, could be my last race'
O’donnell, 4x400m Games Their Of Sam Mixed Olympic The Barnes/sportsfile Team Relay Becker Mawdsley, Sophie Thomas After Sharlene Heat Irish And Chris Picture: Barr Disappointment:
There could be no regrets. They had given it their all, emptied every ounce of energy on the track at the Stade de France, but in the end it just wasn’t enough.
The Irish mixed 4x400m relay team of Chris O’Donnell, Sophie Becker, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley fell short of qualification for the Olympic final in Paris this evening, finishing fifth in their heat in 3:12.67, 10th overall. The race was won by Britain in 3:10.61, with the US setting a world record in the first heat of 3:07.41.
For Thomas Barr, the emotion came in waves after the finish, the 32-year-old Waterford athlete knowing this was his final Games, and possibly his last race.
“I was getting a small bit emotional alright because it is setting in for me that it’s definitely my last Olympics, could be my last race, I’m not sure yet,” he said.
“I’ll take a step back and assess that. I’ve definitely enjoyed the road so far and I’ve definitely enjoyed this experience as well. Today we just fell that little bit short, but it’s still an amazing performance to be proud of and an amazing year for this team to be proud of.”
Chris O’Donnell also reflected with pride on the effort.
“We didn't run a bad race at all, that was our national record before this year and it looks like we just missed out,” he said.
“It was two places, very close. On so many of those occasions we were on the other side of that. We usually perform above our expectations and today we probably finished where the paper suggested we should. Obviously we always want to over-perform and we usually do.”
The Irish needed a top-three finish to advance automatically, or else run a time in the low-3:11 range to secure a time qualifier spot. However, it just wasn’t there. Chris O’Donnell split 45.99 on the opening leg, with Sophie Becker clocking 51.37 on the second leg. Thomas Barr took over for the third leg and split 45.25, with Sharlene Mawdsley bringing it home with a 50.06-second leg, simply left with too much to do to reel in the four teams ahead.
“It was difficult because I’ve not been in that position this year with such a big gap so it felt a bit like a solo run,” said Mawdsley.
“It was really hard to judge my pace because I am really good at using other people in a relay and today I was out there on my own. I did really feel like I was closing down on the girls. It fell a little bit short but honestly the team had a great performance. We’re European champions at the end of this season so we’re walking away really happy.”
Mawdsley and Becker will return to the track on Monday alongside Rhasidat Adeleke for the heats of the women’s 400m.
“And now we’ve an extra day’s recovery,” said Mawdsley.
“I definitely want to put in a really solid performance. I’ve lacked confidence a little bit throughout the season with the individual event so I’m just going to go out and leave everything on the track. I don’t want to look back and have any regrets from this championship and I don’t have any regrets from today.”
Becker looked on the bright side after the race.
“Tenth in the Olympics, it's crazy to say we are a bit disappointed with that,” she said.
“But this team has been growing over the last three years, it has been harder to keep your place on the team and 400m running in Ireland is at a crazy level. It’s disappointing, but it's been a great year for Irish relay running and it's not over yet, we have the women's (4x400m) at the end of the champs. The show must go on.”
Elsewhere, Jodie McCann endured a disappointing Olympic debut, the Dubliner finishing 20th in her heat of the 5000m in 15:55.08, McCann making a bold bid to stay with the leading pack before becoming detached approaching halfway.
“I would have wanted faster, but it was tough,” she said. “Those girls are so much faster than me and I’ve just got to get faster.” Still, having been a late qualifier via her world ranking, she took much from the experience.
“The experience was amazing, I’ve never seen anything like that (stadium). I’m already looking forward to indoors next year, to World Champs, and doing it the right way, qualify (early) and not doing it last minute.”
There was no joy for Eric Favors in the qualification round of the men’s shot put, the 27-year-old Raheny athlete, who had an injury-hit preparation, eliminated after throwing a best of 19.02m.