Longford athlete Cian McPhillips competes in his opening outdoor race of the season

Irish 800m record holder Cian McPhillips opened his outdoor track season on Sunday, placing fifth at the FBK Games in Hengelo, Netherlands.

A strong finish down the home straight saw the Ardagh man move up a few places before crossing the line in a time of 1:44.89. The race was won by home favourite Niels Laros in 1:43.83.

McPhillips had previously raced in Boston back in late January before dental issues curtailed his indoor season while a knee injury then disrupted his outdoors preparations.

He has already achieved the qualification standard for August’s European Championships in Birmingham but will look to fine tune his race sharpness over the coming weeks.

It is quite possible that his next race may well be next weekend when he could make his Diamond League debut in Paris.