Is that him? Is that Lorcan Murphy, famous for his slam dunks and turnaround jump shots? Who abruptly retired from the Irish basketball arena last year, his international career still soaring?
When Ireland’s three fastest men took to the medal podium at last Sunday’s National Track and Field Championships at Morton Stadium, perhaps some curious aficionado did point at Murphy in third place, asking those same questions. Spot on if so.
The tattoo art down both his legs is an obvious hint, still recognisable from his basketball days, although his hair is cropped much shorter these days. Yet for all the crossovers in Irish sport, few if any have successfully and so speedily transitioned from the international basketball court to the track.
It’s even less likely anyone recognised Murphy as the current best all-round athlete in Ireland, the honour he earned last month when winning the national decathlon title. Running, jumping, throwing, hurdling, in quick succession, no other man in the country does it better than him.
RM Block
Murphy’s decision to retire from basketball with immediate effect in February 2024 caught a lot of people off guard – one of the online responses to his announcement referencing him as “the Irish Michael Jordan”. In his last season with Templeogue, the Wicklow player scored 44 points in one game. That’s how good he was.
But after starring on the Irish team for almost a decade, his hoop dreams were already fulfilled; he had, however, a lingering desire to return to athletics, having first dabbled in the high jump as a youngster.
Despite turning 30 last December, Murphy set out some new goals, keeping those closely guarded. Maybe it was just a long shot, especially given all the ego and swagger that comes with the men’s 100m.
“It was a huge decision, and a lot of people were questioning what I was doing,” says Murphy. “Because I was still playing semi-professional with my club, Templeogue, other teams were straight on to me asking me to join them.
“But I’d made up my mind. This was something I’d always wanted to do. I’ve always been a big fan of athletics, and it was now or never. So I had to make that commitment, go for it.
“The basketball off-season was always the summer, so as a kid, my parents entered me in a few high-jump competitions. Because of my height, I was naturally decent. But I’d never done any other events, so it was going to be a lot different.”
Murphy’s original goal wasn’t just in one athletics event, but in 10: after suffering a freak neck injury in training in 2022, which doctors said came close to leaving him paralysed, he first dreamed up the idea of competing in the decathlon – the 10-event discipline comprising of the 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m on day one; then the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and the 1,500m on day two.
“After the neck injury, where I broke the C5 and C6 vertebrae, as I was coming to terms with that I wrote down a few goals that I’d like to achieve, thinking more I’d never get to achieve them. One of them was to do the decathlon.
“With basketball, I’d train every day, never missed a session, and figured if I do that in athletics I’d be just as good. But I quickly discovered everyone in athletics trains every day. It was actually a whole new level of commitment.”
He’d dipped his toes into the 100m last summer, running a best 11.17 seconds. Nothing to shout about there. So over the winter he joined up with Dundrum South Dublin AC, not too far from his home in Bray, and gave athletics his full attention outside of his day-job at Loreto Foxrock, where he teaches art.
The club provided the expert coaching he needed, including Lucy Moore, who over the years played a role in the career of David Gillick and Irish women’s high-jump record holder Deirdre Byrne. At 6ft 2in, Murphy was no giant by basketball standards, but would always make up for any lack of height with his speed, strength and agility.
“I think the plyometric nature of basketball, that’s a benefit for a lot of events. The quick bursts of energy, tendon strength, the isometric exercises, that all translates very well to athletics.
“I had the high-jump skills, then after a couple of months training, realised I was actually getting fairly good at some of these events. All winter, I was doing 13 sessions a week, including gym sessions, training for all the decathlon events, up at 6am, before work.
“I could do it, just to enjoy it, but if I wanted to be competitive, I’d have to train properly. That’s the thing about athletes; it was quite eye-opening that even club athletes competing here are fully committed like that.
“I’d also set the goal to break 11 seconds this season, for the 100m. I thought that was achievable. But the mental side of things as well. Playing on cup finals, internationals, it gives some mental stability, dealing with nerves. You know how to frame things. I’ve been through this before, this isn’t bad. Just feel the excitement, reframe that to a positive thing. That was always strong in my basketball experience.
“Then in my first race in May, I ran 10.47, and thought, ‘Oh, I could be on to something here.’ So I concentrated a bit more on the sprint training, with the DSD sprint group. We also went on a training camp, to Tenerife, that brought me on a lot as well.”
There aren’t many opportunities to compete in the decathlon in Ireland, the main one being the National Championships, this year staged as part of the Athletics Ireland Games in Carlow on July 19th/20th. It was Murphy’s only real chance to impress things upon himself, and perhaps others.
After clearing 2.05m in the high jump at the Cork City Sports on July 9th, finishing third, he went to Carlow in high spirits. After winning the 100m in a new lifetime best of 10.37 seconds, there was no stopping him, and he ended up topping five of the 10 events, scoring an admirable victory on 6,305 points – well clear of second-placed Noah Gilmore, who scored 5,203.
“That was the big moment for me, running 10.37 in the 100m. Going into the 100m last Sunday, I was still dealing with a few niggles after the decathlon, from two weeks before. I’d strained a hip flexor in first-round heat, couldn’t really warm up for the final, so [was] just blessed to get into the medals in such a high-quality field. Delighted.”
The 100m title went to Bori Akinola of UCD AC, running 10.29, adding to his 60m indoor title won earlier this year. Sean Aigboboh, the latest prospect from Tallaght AC, won silver in 10.41, Murphy winning bronze in 10.57.
Murphy has often rewatched the Sprint documentary series on Netflix, which follows the fastest men and women on Earth in the build-up to last summer’s Paris Olympics. Still, he was a little taken aback by the attitude of sprinters on big race day.
“Initially I was thinking these guys don’t seem to get along, don’t seem to like each other, don’t like me. I thought maybe it’s just because I’m new. But no, because it’s such an intense event, and is very testosterone-fuelled, everyone is focused on themselves, almost in an angry sense, to channel all that.
“But then after the race, all the lads I’ve raced against are sound, would all get on. There are lots of different personalities, and [they] approach things differently.
“For next year, I know my start can definitely improve. Once I get from 50m to 100m, I’m quite strong, but I can definitely work on the technical side.”
If he’s already defied his athletics goals, Murphy is used to that. In basketball, he would frequently defy his relatively short stature, or maybe defy gravity, and he also defied medical opinion with the speed at which he recovered from his neck injury; he also defied expectations by choosing to study pure art at IADT in Dún Laoghaire, the only member of the Irish basketball team not to attend a US college.
Enjoying a postseason holiday in Crete this week, Murphy will soon set himself new goals for 2026, and wouldn’t place limits on anyone else thinking of such a sporting crossover, no matter how late in their career.
“I’ll definitely be staying with athletics; I enjoyed the year so much. I’m 30 years old, just finished my first decathlon, and made my first national 100m final. If there’s something like that in the back in your mind, not just sport related, definitely go for it.
“Some of my own goals, I’d already written off, thinking I’d never achieve them. But it’s always possible, once you commit.”
