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(Photo: Rory Lewis)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n By Seamus Toomey<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Comfortable and confident Thomas Barr greeted me with a firm handshake and a cheerful smile, wearing a bright vibrant multi coloured jacket he exuded a sense of happiness.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After a few minutes of pleasant chatter we got down to business and I started with a few questions eager to hear about the man who\u2019s, indeed, setting the Barr for not only Irish athletes but UL\u2019s up and coming.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thomas Barr is one of the few who are heading to the Olympics in Rio in 2016 and he described the feeling as \u201ckind of surreal\u201d seeming still not to really believe what he\u2019s accomplished.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He recently brought home Ireland\u2019s only gold medal from the World University Games in South Korea with his 48.78 second run in the 400m hurdle final.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He\u2019s been training since he was 9 years old and admittedly says he was never a top runner.\u00a0 That is until the past 4 years when he came to UL and began training seriously.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhen I came to Limerick the last 4 years is when I started to take off.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Athletics club were a great club to help Thomas achieve what he has so far, even the varsity competitions have helped he said saying they take away the pressure, you just go on the day and do your best.\u00a0 A big difference to the pressure an international competition holds such as the WGU and what that can put on you.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Barr explained that he was ranked favourite for WGU 2015 and that he was relieved more than anything just to have performed well on the day. \u201cWith expectation comes a lot of pressure, glad I was able to deal with it and pull it off.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cProbably the biggest win I\u2019ve ever had.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Has his win at WGU gone to his head? Nope Barr says it hasn\u2019t even really sunk in yet, he even seemed sceptical that it will any time soon.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cStill hasn\u2019t really set in, don\u2019t know if it will because I\u2019m still in the middle of season still working towards the World Championships.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n So what\u2019s Thomas Barr doing with his training right now for this ever approaching competition, well if you think he\u2019s upping the ante and killing himself you\u2019d be wrong, he says that currently he\u2019s trying to maintain and keep healthy and that the real hard work will come in October to March .<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Never shy of staying busy he\u2019s now doing a masters in sports performance and nutrition in UL and believes his nutrition has improved greatly from this and likewise his overall health and performance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Having an Olympian at the dinner table won\u2019t be a shock for his family though as they\u2019ve had many dinners with their other child, Thomas\u2019 sibling Jesse Barr who\u2019s also an Olympic 400m hurdler having competed in the London 2012 Olympics.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thomas puts the success of the family down to a combination of good genetics and strong work ethic saying it\u2019s a \u201cmixture\u201d of the two, as well as being afforded everything an elite level athlete needs \u201creally good coaching, well looked after, we have everything you need.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With the WGU 2015 win being Thomas\u2019 biggest to date his goals for Rio are to get his time under 48.5 seconds which he stresses is such a hard thing to do and it could take the entire year to shed just .2 or .3 of a second off his current times.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But he won\u2019t be alone in his efforts to do that with everyone involved in the Athletics Club offering their advice and encouragement to help his motivation and training and all of us here in UL are wishing him the best in his important year ahead.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cFor the strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack\u201d \u2013 Rudyard Kipling<\/p>\n<\/div>\n