McPhillips laments 'running out of real estate' but World fourth brings pride and new hunger
SO DAMN CLOSE: Ireland’s Cian McPhillips dejected after the Men's 800 Metres Final
He had done all he could. But on a stage this grand, sometimes that’s simply not enough.
Cian McPhillips produced an astonishing performance to finish fourth in the men’s 800m final at the World Championships in Tokyo on Saturday, the 23-year-old Longford athlete smashing the national record with 1:42.15 and coming up just one fifth of a second shy of the medals.
It took three Olympic medallists to beat him, with 2024 champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya setting a championship record of 1:41.86, edging Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati (1:41.90) and Canada’s Marco Arop (1:41.95).
“I’m a bit pissed, but that’s to be expected,” said McPhillips, a student at UCD. “When I calm down, I’ll probably appreciate it a bit more. It wasn’t good enough this time, but I’ve gotta learn from it. Still, first European home, beaten by three Olympic medallists – it’s hard to say I could have done a whole lot better.”
Unlike his semi-final, the pace was swift from the outset here, with Wanyonyi blasting through the first 200m in 23.76 seconds, McPhillips coasting through in 24.69 down in seventh place. Later, he had no regrets about sitting off that lightning pace which, for him, would likely have been suicidal.
“If I wanted to be up there it would have required a massive effort to put me in the mix and I could have died off it,” he said. “I’m not quite there yet to go out that hard and make it home. I was more comfortable trying to run it the same way I did in the heats and semis: I had to bide my time and hope for an opening. It didn’t really come. If I made a big surge it would have compromised the finish and I made the split second decision to hold off.”
As Wanyonyi led the field through 400m in a vicious 49.26 seconds, McPhillips followed in seventh place in 50.24. He was soon demoted to eighth, where he stayed until 100m to go, but by then those who had hared through the opening lap were coming back to him. He switched wide and launched himself towards the finish, passing four men in the home straight before coming up just shy of those most prized possessions. As he put it: “I ran out of real estate at the end.”
He had produced the performance of his life, by some distance, but it just wasn’t enough to get what he wanted. Still, there was significant pride amid his obvious pain. It’s been a game-changing championships for McPhillips, who produced two spectacular runs to win his heat in 1:44.91 and semi-final in an Irish record of 1:43.18. And this was even better again.
“I was pretty proud of how mentally strong I was,” he said. “It’s my first Worlds, it’s pretty daunting going out in front of that crowd and they list out the achievements of all these champions, but I think I put it up to them. It just wasn’t enough in the end.
“I’m happy with the time. It opens up doors for next year. I got beaten by the three medallists and I thought I might have had them if I had a bit more home straight to work with, but that’ll come next time. I’m proud of the way it’s gone.”
Elsewhere in Tokyo on Saturday, the Irish were comprehensively outpaced in the heats of the women’s 4x400m, coming home eighth in 3:29.27 – almost 10 seconds down on the national record from Paris last year. Sophie Becker led them off with a 51.57-second leg, with Cliodhna Manning splitting 53.32, Rachel McCann 54.04 and Sharlene Mawdsley 50.34.
It brings to an end the Irish involvement at the World Championships, which have proven hugely successful with a slew of top-12 finishes and, through Kate O’Connor, the first medal for 12 years. On Sunday, nine more titles will be decided at the Japan National Stadium.
World Athletics Championships – Live, Sunday: RTÉ Two, 11.15am; BBC Two, 11am
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