He hasn’t made up his mind, but when the weather takes a turn for the wintry, he thinks the decision could be made for him. Or it could be the even more prosaic matter of funding that decides it. But whatever is the final determinant, Tom Barr knows that a decisive juncture in his long career isn’t far away.
He turned 32 on July 24, two days before the Olympics opening ceremony. Nine days after that milestone, he was walking off the track as part of the 4x400m mixed relay team, whose efforts to reach the final at the Stade de France had come up short. He talked in the aftermath of that like a man who was stepping away.
He suggested as much on social media, too. But then there is the World Championships in Tokyo to consider, little over a year away. Sitting alongside Sarah Lavin yesterday as the two promoted Virgin Media’s ongoing coverage of the Diamond League, Barr smiled broadly as Lavin encouraged him to keep going, to push on for one more landmark meet.
‘I’m not setting a date but I think in the next couple of weeks it’s going to become pretty obvious which way I’m going,’ he said. ‘I am definitely swinging towards the side of retiring at the moment but I went through training with my coaches,’ he says, detailing then a conversation with Hayley and Drew Harrison, his long-time mentors, as well as others in his training group, about what they might change for next season. ‘I came away from that thinking, “I might go again”,’ he said.
‘I just n.