There is no single race or overriding moment where Cian McPhillips first announced himself among the most exciting Irish middle-distance prospects of his time, so take your pick.
Seven years ago, certainly as a warning sign, he broke the national under-18 record for 3,000m, running 8:18.91 a month after his 16th birthday, eclipsing the outdoor mark that had stood to John Treacy since 1974 – and faster, incidentally, than Norwegian superstar Jakob Ingebrigtsen ran at that same age.
A year later, McPhillips broke the national under-18 record for 1,500m, and in 2020 he turned heads in the US when winning the Junior Mile at the Millrose Games in New York – that one a tactical masterclass too.
After the pandemic hiatus, he started 2021 by running 1:46.13 for 800m at the Athletics Ireland Micro Meet at Abbotstown, pressing Mark English all the way into breaking his own national senior indoor record, when winning in 1:46.10. McPhillips hadn’t broken 1:50 before then.
“Running 1:46 was a huge breakthrough for Cian,” says his coach Joe Ryan, who has been nurturing his talent since McPhillips first joined Longford Athletic Club at age 13. “It was phenomenal running really for an 18-year-old, and to produce that in his Leaving Cert year.”
Still fast improving, McPhillips made his first senior international appearance at the 2021 European Indoor championships in Torun, Poland, before winning the European under-20 1,500m gold medal in Tallinn, Estonia that July. He then smashed the national under-20 record for 1,500m, running 3:40.56 to finally erase the time set 45 years earlier by another Longford running prodigy named Ray Flynn.
Then it all slowed down. There is no easy or straightforward transition from the junior to senior ranks – Ingebrigtsen being one of the rare exceptions – and no one reason either why things seemed to stall for McPhillips. What matters now is that he’s got things right back on track, running 1:45.33 for 800m in Boston earlier this month, which would have broken the national senior indoor record had English not run 1:45.15 in New York six days previous.
“I suppose progression can only really be expected under the same conditions,” says McPhillips, still only 22, and who, four years on from Torun, will make his second senior international appearance at next week’s European Indoor Championships in the Dutch city of Apeldoorn. “And a lot of things changed in my life around then, moving up to Dublin, starting a reasonably heavy courseload in UCD.
“Some of it was bad luck, other things, like maybe some disorganisation, were manufactured by me. Then some sickness, or unfortune little niggles or injuries, at key points of the season. Like in the middle of racing, I hurt my back in the gym, and it just takes a while to get over that.
“So looking back now, a lot of things just didn’t go to plan. But as I’ve got older and more mature, you can make all these mistakes once, as long as it’s only once. And I think I have learned from all that, got things in order, and back to where I am now. And I’ve got better at managing other aspects of my life, around exams and study periods, all that. And the results are coming back.”
His 1:45.33 in Boston is ample evidence of that, although he did still show flashes of his unquestionable potential over those four lean years. After a best of 1:50.54 in 2022, he ran 1:45.92 in July 2023; the problem was establishing any sort of consistency.
Things also started brightly last season, when he ran 1:46.43 at the same Boston indoor meeting, then an impressive 1:16.33 for 600m in Milan, last April. Both the European Championships in Rome and the Paris Olympics appeared within reach, only for McPhillips to get knocked back again, starting with some symptoms of Covid-19.
“With the sickness last summer, I tried to train through it, because things were getting so close, for the qualifying standards for Rome, and Paris. Then the doctors at the Institute of Sport described it as post-viral fatigue. So I just hit a total slump, could barely do any training, was struggling to study for my exams, was just totally conked out on the bed for good chunks of the day, just really low energy.
“Normally you’d bounce back after a week or two, but it didn’t matter how much time I took off, it just wasn’t coming back. And that’s when the doctors recommended a longer break.”
He has lightened some of his workload at UCD, where he’s studying Maths, extending his final term into next year. His decision not to pursue a US scholarship, after several top colleges came knocking, did cause some debate, not least for himself, but no regrets on that front.
“It was a big decision, I probably spent an awful lot of hours − when I should have been studying − debating that decision. I was looking at the University of Washington, up in Seattle, and Standford, those two really. But there is a good set up here now, Joe has known me for years, and you’re not held to a [US] college race schedule. Thankfully it did all work out in the end.”
Flynn also continued their Longford connections to become a major influence on his running career. A top agent in the US (representing all three medal winners from the 1,500m final in Paris last summer), Flynn helped secure McPhillips a deal with Adidas, also understanding well the often bumpy road in a running career.
Not that McPhillips ever lost sight of where he wanted to go: “It was very disappointing, last year. I really did think I was capable of making Paris, the way training was going. Up until late April, when I got that sickness, and everything kind of went off the rails. But I never lost motivation, as such. I know myself that if I can get the system right, the results will come, at some stage.
“This year I have got a lot of things in order, and that’s down to the well-oiled machine, obviously my coach Joe, the physios, my parents, all keeping me ready, and grounded. Sometimes there’s some variance in these things, a couple of years where things mightn’t go to plan, but I think we’re seeing the fruits of that labour now.”
McPhillips goes to Apeldoorn next week ranked fourth fastest on 2025 times, English ranked third with his 1:45.15. The 800m may be his preferred event for now, the 1,500m still presenting more potential too.
“At 16, I was still quite scrawny, then I think I went through two growth spurts, up the first time, and out the second time. I look more like a 400m/800m runner now. I’ve got a lot more powerful, over the shorter distances, so it’s hard to know. For 800m, you do need to be good at 400m and 1,500m, and the way the 1,500m is going, and the 5,000m, you really do need to be exceptional.
“So it’s difficult to say, just yet, the way it will go, but my hopes for this year are in the 800m, try to qualify for Tokyo World Championships in that. I haven’t done 1,500m for a while, but will be looking to do a good few of those this summer as well.”
His coach believes that fast times count for little without consistency: “To be fair, progress in this sport is not always linear,” says Ryan, who also coaches at Dublin City University, as well as being endurance running coach at Mullingar Harriers for more than 20 years. “But Cian always displayed the resilience, and belief, to remain committed during those tougher periods. It was frustrating at times, it certainly wasn’t a smooth transition, from junior to senior.
“Thankfully he’s fit and healthy again, but he’s looking to be competitive on an international level, on a consistent basis, and that’s probably the one thing that has been lacking since his junior success, until now.”
