Injured, disillusioned and on the verge of quitting sprinting midway through 2024, son of a gun Aidan Murphy gave himself one more year to make things click.
Two years on, he has chopped his 200-metre personal best way down to 19.88 seconds, is the best all-round sprinter Australia has ever produced, and could be on the cusp of history at the Commonwealth Games.
Aidan Murphy in action at the Oceania athletics championships in Darwin in May. Casey Sims/Oceania Athletics.
Murphy ran that 19.88 in the 200m final at the national athletics championships in Sydney in April, in a memorable race won by teen superstar Gout Gout in 19.67 – a world under-20 record.
Few people were talking about what Murphy had done, which is understandable given the run unleashed by Gout and the tearaway hype train he is, but both men broke the previous national record.
The rich vein of performances the 22-year-old has enjoyed is sweet reward for persistence through adversity: years dogged by injuries, results that fell well short of his immense potential, a revolving door of coaches, and self-doubt.
“I’m not going to lie; it was really, really tough,” Murphy told nine.com.au.
“There was a good three-year period where I questioned whether the sport was for me.
“Even as recently as late 2024, after missing Olympic qualification due to a quad strain, I sat down with my parents and told myself I’d give it one more year.”
Murphy is the son of Tania Van Heer, who won two relay gold medals and a bronze in the women’s 100m at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.
In 2022, aged 18, he ran a 200m in 20.41 seconds – into a headwind – to claim the Australian under-20 record.
Still only 18, he packed his bags and jetted off for the 2022 world athletics championships in Eugene, Oregon, where he made his senior Australian debut.
He was below his best and bowed out in the heats.
A couple of weeks later, at the world under-20 championships in Cali, Colombia, he made it through the opening round but went crashing out in the semis.
Australian teammate Calab Law, who until that stage hadn’t shown quite as much potential as Murphy, won a bronze medal in the 200m.
As he wrestled with whether to quit the sport or hang in, his mum was a rock of support.
Aidan Murphy’s mum, Tania Van Heer, holding aloft the Australian flag at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, after winning gold in the 4x100m relay with Sharon Cripps, Lauren Hewitt and Nova Peris. Craig Golding.
“She wanted me to find my own way, both in and out of the sport, and supported whatever decision I made. But she secretly backed my ability the whole time, helped me find a good physio and connected me with Nik [Hagicostas, the coach he has now] when I was self-coaching for a month,” Murphy said.
“Her main advice was to be patient and trust the process.
“She reminded me of my why – why I started running in the first place, which was simply that I loved running and competing. Reconnecting with that simple joy made all the difference.”
He is now the second-fastest Australian in history in both the 200m (19.88) and 400m (44.44). His 100m personal best, 10.23, isn’t too shabby either.
He says he’s “bloody stoked” he stuck with it.
“I wouldn’t be the athlete I am today without those hard times,” he added.
“It was a tough road, but a necessary step to becoming one of the best sprinters in Australia.”
Aidan Murphy pictured at the Adelaide Invitational in March. Australian Athletics.
No Australian man has medalled in the 200m at the Commonwealth Games since John Treloar struck gold in Auckland in 1950. It was so long ago that it was run over 200 yards, and the event was known as the British Empire Games.
Murphy, or sprint powerhouse Lachlan Kennedy, could break the drought in Glasgow this week.
“I’m looking forward to some head-to-head battles with guys who have gone sub-20, and trying to beat them,” Murphy said.
“I’m ready to go.”
