AS HE LIFTS the phone, Barry Sheil of the Longford Athletics Club is trying to organise a live screening of the men’s 800m final at the World Championships.
Something big could be happening for them in Tokyo.
With little time to prepare, he lists off the tasks he has encountered in bringing the event together. Contact has been made with the County Council. They need to make sure all the club members who want to attend are catered for. Politicians, of course, want to get involved.
Speakers. Wifi. A screen large enough for the crowd they’re anticipating. It’s a big undertaking. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of volunteers who want to make sure everything is ready for when the gun goes off at 2.22pm later today.
“There’s a WhatsApp group that’s about to explode with messages,” Sheil adds with excitement. History beckons for their club, and for one of their star products who will putt his spikes behind the starting line.
After that, who knows what the next two minutes will bring for Cian McPhillips?
****
Sheil makes it that McPhillips is the fourth athlete from Longford to compete at the outdoor World Athletics Championships. The great Ray Flynn, who has been an important influence on McPhillips’ career, is part of that esteemed group. Aisling Molloy and Adeyemi (Yemi) Talabi are in there too. Talabi and McPhillips came through around the same time as part of a golden generation in the club.
The 23-year-old McPhillips has taken his seat at the table with a terrific set of results in Tokyo, defying his 55th place in the world rankings as he goes. He started by winning his heat in 1:44.91 on Tuesday. It got better for McPhillips on Thursday when he set a new national record with a scorching run of 1:43.18 to win his semi-final.
And now, having obliterated the form book, he will prepare for a World final as a genuine medal contender. McPhillips’ conditioning featured prominently in the commentary that followed his performance on Thursday. Sheil noticed it too, particularly in the final 100m of the race.
Cian McPhillips after winning his heat at the World Athletics Championships. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
“Cian’s form coming off the bend on the home straight, [a] very upright running style, very little movement in the shoulders, the arms and the legs doing all the work.
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“Some other athletes were running quite ragged, coming into the finish. I just found it was interesting about Cian and Max Burgin (Great Britain), they’re both the same age and they were running almost identically.
“A lot of that is strength and conditioning, all the work Cian has done in the gym over not just this year, but probably over the last few years.”
Timing has been an important factor in helping McPhillips achieve these results. His father Paddy told Morning Ireland that a bout of Long Covid derailed his Olympics dream last year, while a stress fracture at the European Indoors kept McPhillips out of the World Indoor Championships in China earlier this season.
Sheil explains that McPhillips was sidelined for about 10 weeks with that injury. But it’s the timing of his return that is benefitting him now.
“He was kind of building up whilst a lot of athletes were racing. Cian didn’t really get racing over the summer till July, August. And even at that, he raced very little.
“He’s running incredibly fast. By my reckoning, he’s taken two seconds off his personal best this year. He’s peaked his season’s best for this time.
“He went from 1:45.1 back in the early part of the year, and then he then took a second off in July at the Morton Games (1:44.19) and now he’s taken a further second off, which at that level is massive.”
****
Success came early in McPhillips’ career. As Sheil recalls, the national titles and cross-country wins started flowing when he was around 12 or 13 which is about the same time that the Mullingar-based coach Joe Ryan took over as his mentor.
Their partnership continued throughout his years as a juvenile athlete and on through to his days in the UCD singlet where he is currently studying maths. Sheil says McPhillips has deferred his final term to 2026, choosing to take this time to fully commit himself to athletics.
“You’ll often hear about guys going on scholarships to UCD and they’ll pick the easiest course possible or whatever because it can let them focus on their training. Cian went the other way. He picked one of the toughest courses.”
The potential was always there but it wasn’t until 2021 that Sheil got a true sense of what McPhillips could really achieve in running. At just 18, preparing to sit his Leaving Cert, McPhillips was running in the final of 800m at the National Indoor Championships.
The winner of the race was middle-distance veteran Mark English. His 1:46.10 saw him over the line just ahead McPhillips (1:46.13) who battled with him for every step. Incidentally, The 42 spoke to McPhillips after that breakthrough performance where the Longford youngster admitted to “trying not to throw up,” such was the impact of the race on his senses.
Cian McPhillips and Mark English in the final of the men's 800m at the National Athletics Championships earlier this year. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
A career in maths was on his mind, and he was already benefiting from the wisdom of Ray Flynn, who was the Irish mile and 1500m record-holder at the time. McPhillips didn’t think he was capable of challenging those feats at that point.
English, who narrowly fell short of a place in the men’s 800m final today, declared after that race that McPhillips was “the future of athletics.” What a prediction that has turned out to be.
“He did that in February,” Sheil says, looking back on McPhillips’ 2021 season.” And then he won the European juniors in July. And the week after the European juniors, he set an Irish junior record, taking Ray’s record for 1500m.
“It looked like he was destined to shoot for the stars. This is now the next step. He’s still only 23 and you see Mark English running the best he’s ever been running at 32. Cian has a lot to look forward to.”
****
There was an ease in McPhillips’ stride pattern in the semi-final. There was no fight for air. He could summon the strength to triumphantly beat his chest as he crossed the line, jogging to a stop as he looked at the board to confirm his victory.
His breathing seemed to almost be back at resting rate by the time he met RTÉ’s David Gillick for the obligatory post-race address to the nation. Total composure. An almost casual tone in his speech. Already putting that result to one side.
As he contemplates his next move in the 800m final, the Longford AC club are similarly preparing for that moment. McPhillips may wear the UCD singlet these days but his links with the home club remain tight. His father Paddy is a former chairman of Longford AC, who still coaches. His sister Sarah is also involved in the coaching side of things.
They’ll be hoping for a strong turnout at the live screening. Those who came before him and those who will hope to follow his footsteps will all be looking on, willing the Longford runner to go and take on the world.
“It’s funny, athletics is one of those sports that still feels at times like a minority sport. But then when you have events like this week, it really comes to the fore. And then I think social media has played a massive role in the resurgence of athletics in recent years.
“But from a Longford perspective, he’s certainly put us on the map and what a great ambassador he is for both Longford and Ireland.”
“We’ll see how we get on. We might get a few into our building for it.”
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'He's certainly put us on the map' - Longford wait for Cian McPhillips to take on the world
LAST UPDATE | 20 Sep
AS HE LIFTS the phone, Barry Sheil of the Longford Athletics Club is trying to organise a live screening of the men’s 800m final at the World Championships.
Something big could be happening for them in Tokyo.
With little time to prepare, he lists off the tasks he has encountered in bringing the event together. Contact has been made with the County Council. They need to make sure all the club members who want to attend are catered for. Politicians, of course, want to get involved.
Speakers. Wifi. A screen large enough for the crowd they’re anticipating. It’s a big undertaking. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of volunteers who want to make sure everything is ready for when the gun goes off at 2.22pm later today.
“There’s a WhatsApp group that’s about to explode with messages,” Sheil adds with excitement. History beckons for their club, and for one of their star products who will putt his spikes behind the starting line.
After that, who knows what the next two minutes will bring for Cian McPhillips?
****
Sheil makes it that McPhillips is the fourth athlete from Longford to compete at the outdoor World Athletics Championships. The great Ray Flynn, who has been an important influence on McPhillips’ career, is part of that esteemed group. Aisling Molloy and Adeyemi (Yemi) Talabi are in there too. Talabi and McPhillips came through around the same time as part of a golden generation in the club.
The 23-year-old McPhillips has taken his seat at the table with a terrific set of results in Tokyo, defying his 55th place in the world rankings as he goes. He started by winning his heat in 1:44.91 on Tuesday. It got better for McPhillips on Thursday when he set a new national record with a scorching run of 1:43.18 to win his semi-final.
And now, having obliterated the form book, he will prepare for a World final as a genuine medal contender. McPhillips’ conditioning featured prominently in the commentary that followed his performance on Thursday. Sheil noticed it too, particularly in the final 100m of the race.
“Cian’s form coming off the bend on the home straight, [a] very upright running style, very little movement in the shoulders, the arms and the legs doing all the work.
“Some other athletes were running quite ragged, coming into the finish. I just found it was interesting about Cian and Max Burgin (Great Britain), they’re both the same age and they were running almost identically.
“A lot of that is strength and conditioning, all the work Cian has done in the gym over not just this year, but probably over the last few years.”
Timing has been an important factor in helping McPhillips achieve these results. His father Paddy told Morning Ireland that a bout of Long Covid derailed his Olympics dream last year, while a stress fracture at the European Indoors kept McPhillips out of the World Indoor Championships in China earlier this season.
Sheil explains that McPhillips was sidelined for about 10 weeks with that injury. But it’s the timing of his return that is benefitting him now.
“He was kind of building up whilst a lot of athletes were racing. Cian didn’t really get racing over the summer till July, August. And even at that, he raced very little.
“He’s running incredibly fast. By my reckoning, he’s taken two seconds off his personal best this year. He’s peaked his season’s best for this time.
“He went from 1:45.1 back in the early part of the year, and then he then took a second off in July at the Morton Games (1:44.19) and now he’s taken a further second off, which at that level is massive.”
****
Success came early in McPhillips’ career. As Sheil recalls, the national titles and cross-country wins started flowing when he was around 12 or 13 which is about the same time that the Mullingar-based coach Joe Ryan took over as his mentor.
Their partnership continued throughout his years as a juvenile athlete and on through to his days in the UCD singlet where he is currently studying maths. Sheil says McPhillips has deferred his final term to 2026, choosing to take this time to fully commit himself to athletics.
“You’ll often hear about guys going on scholarships to UCD and they’ll pick the easiest course possible or whatever because it can let them focus on their training. Cian went the other way. He picked one of the toughest courses.”
The potential was always there but it wasn’t until 2021 that Sheil got a true sense of what McPhillips could really achieve in running. At just 18, preparing to sit his Leaving Cert, McPhillips was running in the final of 800m at the National Indoor Championships.
The winner of the race was middle-distance veteran Mark English. His 1:46.10 saw him over the line just ahead McPhillips (1:46.13) who battled with him for every step. Incidentally, The 42 spoke to McPhillips after that breakthrough performance where the Longford youngster admitted to “trying not to throw up,” such was the impact of the race on his senses.
A career in maths was on his mind, and he was already benefiting from the wisdom of Ray Flynn, who was the Irish mile and 1500m record-holder at the time. McPhillips didn’t think he was capable of challenging those feats at that point.
English, who narrowly fell short of a place in the men’s 800m final today, declared after that race that McPhillips was “the future of athletics.” What a prediction that has turned out to be.
“He did that in February,” Sheil says, looking back on McPhillips’ 2021 season.” And then he won the European juniors in July. And the week after the European juniors, he set an Irish junior record, taking Ray’s record for 1500m.
“It looked like he was destined to shoot for the stars. This is now the next step. He’s still only 23 and you see Mark English running the best he’s ever been running at 32. Cian has a lot to look forward to.”
****
There was an ease in McPhillips’ stride pattern in the semi-final. There was no fight for air. He could summon the strength to triumphantly beat his chest as he crossed the line, jogging to a stop as he looked at the board to confirm his victory.
His breathing seemed to almost be back at resting rate by the time he met RTÉ’s David Gillick for the obligatory post-race address to the nation. Total composure. An almost casual tone in his speech. Already putting that result to one side.
As he contemplates his next move in the 800m final, the Longford AC club are similarly preparing for that moment. McPhillips may wear the UCD singlet these days but his links with the home club remain tight. His father Paddy is a former chairman of Longford AC, who still coaches. His sister Sarah is also involved in the coaching side of things.
They’ll be hoping for a strong turnout at the live screening. Those who came before him and those who will hope to follow his footsteps will all be looking on, willing the Longford runner to go and take on the world.
“It’s funny, athletics is one of those sports that still feels at times like a minority sport. But then when you have events like this week, it really comes to the fore. And then I think social media has played a massive role in the resurgence of athletics in recent years.
“But from a Longford perspective, he’s certainly put us on the map and what a great ambassador he is for both Longford and Ireland.”
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Athletics Cian McPhillips home grown talent Longford AC World Athletics Championships