Thomas Barr has finished third in the 400-metre hurdles at the Shanghai Diamond League in a time of 49.41 which was just half a second off the Tokyo 2020 qualification standard of 48.90.

The race was won by Abderrahman Samba of Qatar in 47.27 with USA's Ben Rai in second in 47.80. The Diamond League is the top tier of global one-day meeting competitions run by IAAF the world governing body for athletics.

Barr will next race in the Stockholm Diamond League on May 30th. His main target for the 2019 season is the IAAF World Championships scheduled from September 27th and October 6th 2019 in Doha, Qatar at the renovated multi-purpose Khalifa International Stadium.

Speaking after the race he said: “I’m very happy with that, I felt smooth and easy from the get go.”