Thomas Barr: The Road To Tokyo

An Irishman Abroad

Jarlath Regan

Society & Culture, News, Health & Fitness, Society & Culture:personal Journals, Personal Journals, Politics

4.8 • 834 Ratings

🗓️ 12 June 2021

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Irish Olympian Thomas Barr joined Jarlath for a fascinating conversation about his life and career while in the thick of his preparation for Tokyo. Thomas is one of Ireland's biggest medal hopes for the upcoming games. He speaks for the first time about his discomfort when put in front of the media, the days in which his commitment to his sport is most tested and why he believes dopers will always be one step ahead of the testers. Thomas explains the influence, bound and mutual support between him and his Olympian sister Jessie and how he unwinds watching some pretty strange videos on YouTube. Can he go all the way in Tokyo? Jarlath asks if the strange circumstances might work in his favour. This episode was made possible by Darragh Bambrick. Darragh followed Thomas for “Horizon Tokyo” an extraordinary documentary series that followed 9 Irish athletes on and off the track for 3 years as they try to qualify for the Olympic games in Tokyo. Catch it on the RTÉ player. To hear every episode in full and to gain access to the entire back-catalogue of over 500 Irishman Abroad episodes that are not available on iTunes for just the price of a pint every month visit www.patreon.com/irishmanabroad Supplementary research provided by John Meagher. The Irishman Abroad Liveline is now open. You can now get in touch with us and feature on our shows by sending your WhatsApp voice note to 0044 7543 122 330. Why not pose a running question to Irish Olympic Legend Sonia O'Sullivan or ask our America Correspondent Marion McKeone her thoughts on a current talking point Stateside? Of course, if you have an issue with traffic or elephants on the loose in your area, Jarlath can do his best to sort that out too. Our charity partner is jigsawonline.ie. In these tricky times, Jigsaw provides a range of resources, advice and care for your people to help them strengthen their mental health and the skills needed to navigate life. Please visit their website and consider making a donation. For updates on future episodes and live shows follow @jarlath on Twitter, visit www.jigser.com or email the show directly on [email protected]. Disclaimer: All materials contained within this podcast are copyright protected. Third party reuse and/or quotation in whole or in part is prohibited unless direct credit and/or hyperlink to the Irishman Abroad podcast is clearly and accurately provided.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I do have times, not regularly, but say every couple of weeks or months, especially in the winter, where those goals that you're working towards of major championships, say Olympics, for example, this year, or in another year a couple European championships, or you might have a couple of competitions lined up in the summer.
0:21.6	And it's usually the summer where you're aiming towards, but you're training from about
0:24.6	September October through the winter.
0:27.6	And that's where you're really start to question on a miserable day where it's raining,
0:33.6	it's windy, it's cold, there's sleet, and you you're like why the hell am i down here doing yeah three by
0:42.2	600 meters 600 meters 400 meters 300 meters 300 meters or whatever it is or going out into the hills
0:48.8	in cratlow and running up a load of hills and like why am i doing this except you know what i mean
0:53.7	i do but for me i would have a lot more of those like, why am I doing this? You know what I mean? I do.
0:54.5	But for me, I would have a lot more of those thoughts if I was on my own.
0:59.2	That's the small talk.
1:00.7	Now let's go down to business.
1:02.5	Now, your program, what's de big idea?
1:06.5	Well, they're going to know the Irish much better.
1:09.1	We've now got to know how largely their mind works.
1:12.4	I moved over here, and immediately I had to up my game.
1:16.1	I could not have done the job I did for quite a number of years in Ireland.
1:20.3	I had to go on there in my living in England.
1:22.3	I think a lot of it's in my hair. I think there's a lot of Ireland in here.
1:25.1	I had an artist up for you. 20 years after an Irishman couldn't get a fucking job, we had the presidency.
1:31.3	It was some heightened awareness of how hard my tribe had had it in London.
1:36.3	No blacks, no Irish, no dogs.
1:38.3	Never has a nation so small inspired so much in another.
	...

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