When Athletics Ireland named a record-breaking squad of 28 for the world championships in Tokyo, much of the attention centred around the absence of Rhasidat Adeleke.
The Paris Olympian had already declared she would not be competing in Japan, and with that, it seemed like Irish hopes of a medal were dramatically diminished. Indeed Adeleke's decision to opt out due to unspecified injury setbacks seemed to be a significant blow for Irish fans hoping to see an Irish singlet in finals action.
Hammer thrower Nicola Tuthill continued her rise with a maiden final performance, while Sarah Healy capped off an impressive 2025 by squeezing into the 1500m final to place 10th.
Not many were gazing into the crystal ball prior to the championships and predicting that Cian McPhillips would take his place at the start line among the world’s elite for the men’s 800m final.
The smart money on Irish representation would have been on Mark English, a European Indoor medallist earlier this year and who lowered his own national record on three occasions in an eye-catching season. The five-time European 800m medallist between indoors and outdoors however was edged out in his semi-final.
In stark contrast, McPhillips has well and truly served notice of his talent at a global level. The 23-year-old hasn’t just snuck into a final, or nervously waited to learn his fate, he’s been a convincing winner in both rounds, lowering English’s national record in the process.
Unheralded perhaps to the casual viewer, McPhillips is finally benefitting from an injury-free run.
Since his 1500m triumph at the 2021 European Junior Championships, it has been far from plain sailing. Long Covid put paid to realising his Olympic dream in Paris, but the determination to succeed hasn’t wavered.
As his father Paddy said in the afterglow of the semi-final, simply making it to Japan was an achievement in itself.
"Just get him on the track in Tokyo, that would make up for a lot of the disappointment," he said.
The goal posts have changed with his four laps at the National Stadium, but what realistically can he achieve in the final? (2.22pm Irish time)
His winning time on Thursday would have taken gold in the in the last two World finals, but 800m is an extremely tactical affair, the shortest middle-distance event that has all the runners converge into one lane after the first bend.
Positioning and pacing are key. The legendary David Rudisha, with his aggressive front-running strategy, challenged the 'sit and kick’ affairs that had taken hold of the event during his period of dominance in the last decade.
McPhillips has demonstrated his "kick" is a serious weapon, coasting past Britain’s Max Burgin in the last 50m on Thursday. In studio, Sonia O'Sullivan described as "very, very unusual" McPhillip's negative split performance (running the second lap faster than his first).
The manner of Thursday’s victory cannot be underestimated in a field full of medal winners, something McPhillips acknowledged himself afterwards.
"I haven't raced against a field this good before," he said. "It is kind of hard to know sometimes if you have it or not."
The evidence certainly suggests he has enough to compete, but podium aspirations need to be set against the quality of the opposition.
McPhillips’ world ranking of 55 makes him the outsider by some distance, with six of the top-10 lacing their spikes for the final.
The top two in the world, Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi, the only finalist younger than McPhillips, and Canada’s Marco Arop look set to add to their budding rivalry.
Two years ago Arop saw off Wanyonyi in Budapest to become world champion, before the Kenyan exacted revenge in Paris last summer to scoop Olympic gold. Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati took bronze in the French capital and has the fifth-fastest time ever over the distance.
Wanyonyi is the closest currently competing athlete to Rudisha’s 2012 world record time of 1:40.91 – his PB of 1:41.11 putting him joint-second alongside the decorated Wilson Kipketer – and as a dominant figure over the last four years in 800m, is chasing down a maiden world title. Motivation won’t be in short supply either.
The fifth born of 11 children born into dire poverty, Wanyonyi has said that winning races has been an "opportunity out of our misery", with his on-track success putting his family down a different path in life.
There is no doubting the pedigree of the leading lights, yet at the same time, six of the 10 fastest 800m men who qualified for Tokyo didn’t make the final, including 2019 world champion Donovan Brazier, who could only manage third behind McPhillips in the semi-final.
"This Olympic cycle, it's the birth of new stars"
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 18, 2025
Sonia O'Sullivan, Rob Heffernan and Derval O'Rourke react to Cian McPhillips' outstanding 800m semi-final performance and his chances in the final: https://t.co/NbdrvQY17Q #Tokyo2025 pic.twitter.com/bEQwx0GidH
The Irish trailblazer will start knowing that the only finalist he compares to favourably for both a personal and season’s best is Jamaica’s Navasky Anderson, but another positive tactical display could render that less significant.
Perhaps more applicable to 800m than any other event, the shortest route is the most congested route. The opening 200m of the semi-final was "rough" by his own admission, penned in by the sideline before plotting his route around. He spoke afterwards of patience and how every race remains a learning curve, with today likely to be his steepest learning curve yet.
"This could be the opportunity of a lifetime for him," Rob Heffernan told RTÉ viewers after the semi-final exploits. "I know he's young, but it might never come around again."
He’s broken new ground by becoming the first Irish athlete to make a world 800m final, has scorched to a new national record and announced himself at the elite level.
Is there one more kick in Cian McPhillips?
Watch Cian McPhillips compete in the final of the 800m at the World Athletics Championships on Saturday at 2.22pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Coverage begins at 11am.
