Hundreds of people gathered at Longford Athletics Club to watch Cian McPhillips' 800-metre final on the big screen.
As the race progressed men, women and children jumped to their feet screaming and shouting as Cian powered into fourth place.
Emotions were high in Longford as people tried to process the bittersweet mix of disappointment at losing out to a medal combined with immense pride.
Paddy and Laura McPhillips dropped by the club with their daughter Sarah after staying at home to watch their son race in the final of the world championships.
They were besieged by well-wishers and shook hands and posed for photographs. But there was understandably some heartbreak as well.
Paddy smiled and held out his hands saying: "Look at me. I'm still shaking."
"Everybody tells you that fourth place is the worst place to finish, you know, and your heart is disappointed because your head is telling you not to be, because fourth in the world is still a massive achievement.
"Our emotions are all over the place but there's a huge sense of pride. And he's taken almost a second off the Irish record that he set on Thursday evening. That's massive.
"So I'm sure he'll be a little bit disappointed, but that's the competitive edge," said Paddy.
Sarah is a coach at the club and remembers her brother winning national titles at 11/12 years of age.
"To see Cian starting out at community games in Longford, to end up on the world stage, like watching him on the TV, it's just surreal, like to think he's got there. But you know, he's worked so hard over the years and he deserves every minute of his success," she said.
Cian's mother Laura gave a little laugh and shrugged her shoulders: "Oh he'll be gutted but when he comes down off the rollercoaster of emotions he will realise, oh my god, fourth in the world, you know.
"And he's just gone 23 there in the summer, and he has had a tough year with injuries and a bad fall and he worked so hard to get back on track. So we're just so proud of him," said Ms McPhillips.
Barry Sheil is the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Longford Athletics. He said Cian had surpassed all expectations setting an Irish record on Thursday with his semi-final win and a strong performance in a heat on Tuesday.
"Today was a particularly challenging race with a fast start and Cian demonstrated his finishing kick to secure a close fourth place.
"It was an incredible race, I mean he's decimated his personal bests this week, from where we were last Tuesday to where we are now, he's gone from being ranked 43rd at the start of the week to fourth best in the world," explained Mr Sheil.
Throughout the day people repeatedly drew attention to the irony of having a world class runner emerging out of a county without an outdoor running track.
Cian McPhillips went to secondary school in Mullingar to get professional coaching with Joe Ryan who remains with him to this day.
He turned down scholarships in the US including ones from prestigious institutions like Stanford University in California to stay in Ireland. He trains in UCD in Dublin where he studies maths.
There's a 60-metre indoor track at Longford Athletics Club but the hope now is that going forward, up and coming young runners inspired by Cian McPhillips will have a 400-metre outdoor track in the future.
