The stats on previous 400m hurdles finals show just how cruel Thomas Barr’s fate was

Ireland has a new track and field hero.

Thomas Barr ran the race of his life in Rio on Thursday afternoon. Barr finished cruelly short of securing Ireland's first sprint medal since 1932. And by cruelly short we mean cruelly short - he was 0.05 secs off a bronze medal. The 23-year-old finished in fourth place in a 400m hurdles final which was won by USA's Kerron Clement.   Barr's time was a new national record - one of four national records in a super-fast final. When the dust settles, Barr will - and should - be immensely proud of his achievement but after the race he spoke about how fourth place is almost the worst place to finish, knowing that you were so very, very close to a medal. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/766297598487592960 But Barr may be even more frustrated when he sees where his time would have seen him placed in previous Games. Barr's time of 47.97sec would have been enough to earn the Waterford man a bronze medal at London 2012. And it would have won him a silver in Beijing in 2008. 

And silver again in 2004.

But medal or not, Barr's contribution to the Games have made him a hero in Ireland. And rightly so. You can expect to see kids up and down the country trying to emulate their new idol with makeshift hurdles over the weeks and months to come. Roll on Tokyo 2020.