Longford’s Cian McPhillips advances after dramatic 800m at European Indoor Athletics Championships

Longford athlete Cian McPhillips experienced a range of emotions on Friday morning in the 800 metres at the European Indoor Championships in the Netherlands.

Ardagh’s Cian lined up in heat one knowing that only the first two finishers were guaranteed their place in the next round. All five athletes were closely bunched together as the race entered the final of four laps and he was well positioned to make his move.

With 150 metres remaining, a tangle of legs among two of the other competitors resulted in Poland’s Bartosz Kitlinski falling to the track. This in turn led to Cian also losing his footing and taking a fall. He did resume the race to finish fifth. 

Completing the race allowed for the possibility of an appeal being lodged by Irish team management regarding the nature of the fall.

Following this appeal, Cian was reinstated by the track referee and advances to Saturday evening’s semi-final.

The first of the semi-finals is scheduled for 7.13pm (Irish time) on Saturday and both races will be televised live on RTE 2 television.

Mark English (Finn Valley AC) also advanced having placed second in the fifth heat.

Both Irish athletes will line up against strong competition as they attempt to qualify for Sunday’s European final.

The sometimes unpredictable nature of indoor track running, with the short straights and tight bends, can produce such collisions on occasion as Cian McPhillips experienced in the heats on Friday morning.