Cian McPhillips made a late charge to take fourth place in the men's 800m final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
In last position coming up to the bend, the Longford man finished strongly, setting a new national record of 1:42.15 and missing out on a medal by just 0.8 of a second.
Kenya's Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi won gold in a championship record time of 1:41.86. Algeria's Djamel Sedjati took silver in 1:41.90 and Canada's Marco Arop was a couple of strides ahead of McPhilips to claim bronze in 1:41.95.
"It would have been nice to get a medal, but we'll leave that for next time," the 23-year-old told RTÉ Sport.
"I've taken another second off my PB. It's frustrating at the moment, but when I calm down I'll probably appreciate what I've done a bit more.
"First European home in the world, so you can't be too greedy.
"That was not far off the full Olympic final [lineup] there. That was only 12 months ago. And a lot of them are on the all-time list as well, in the top 10. So mixing it with those guys, it's a big push on."
Reflecting further on how the race panned out, McPhillips added: "I had to bide my time there at the end. I just kind of ran out of real estate.
What an effort from 23-year-old Cian McPhillips! The Irishman produces an unbelievable finish to take fourth in the 800m final at the World Athletics Championships. A stunning performance. #RTEsport #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/dQQNhEGQFY
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 20, 2025
"That's the kind of race I've been waiting to get into for a while. I still feel like there could be a little bit more there, but the season's done.
"In my first World Champs, winning the heats, winning the semis, fourth overall, probably legs a bit tired from the semi, but even my national record, massive PB opens a lot of doors next year.
"I came in here physically strong [but] I was quite happy with how mentally strong I was just getting through the rounds, pacing it well.
"Delighted with that. A lot of people have put a lot of work into me over the last few years, so it's starting to pay off. Not there yet, but huge progress.
"It makes me basically pretty optimistic for next year. I think there's a lot of low hanging fruit. A lot of things I learned this year."
"When I calm down I'll probably appreciate what I've done here more" - It's been a breakthrough Worlds for 23-year-old Cian McPhillips. He spoke to @DavidGillick after his fourth-placed finish in the men's 800m final #RTEsport pic.twitter.com/b4AwdJjFpI
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 20, 2025
The UCD financial maths student was a European Under-20 gold medallist in 2021 but subsequently suffered a back injury that forced him to rethink his training.
"Looking back, it was probably a blessing that I got injured," he said. "It kind of forced me to understand my training a lot more.
"When you're told you're out for that long, you really have to go back to first principles, kind of start from scratch.
"It's horrible. The training is not fun. It's bloody hard. So, I surround myself with people who were able to articulate to me why I was doing this.
"They made the right decisions at the right time and, thankfully I came here in the best shape of my life."
