Aidan Murphy

Aidan Murphy (born 14 October 2003) is an Australian sprinter who competes in the 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres and relay events. He is the son of former Australian sprinter and dual Commonwealth Games gold medallist Tania Van Heer.

Career

2022–2024 In February 2022, under coach Peter Fitzgerald, Murphy ran 20.41 seconds at the South Australian Championships to break the 37-year-old Australian under-20 record in the 200 metres. Murphy then made his senior international debut at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, finishing sixth in his 200 m heat.

In 2023, Murphy returned to the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, again finishing sixth in his 200 m heat. The following year, he was runner-up in the 200 m at both the Australian Athletics Championships and the Oceania Athletics Championships in Suva, but did not qualify for the Paris Olympics.

2025 In his first full season under Hagicostas, Murphy finished second behind Gout Gout in the 200 m at the Australian Athletics Championships, running a wind-assisted 20.40 seconds (+2.2 m/s). In May, he ran a 44.65-second third leg in Australia's men's 4 × 400 m relay at the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, helping the team run 2:59.73 to qualify for the World Athletics Championships.

In July, Murphy placed fifth in the 200 m and fourth in the 4 × 100 m relay at the World University Games. At the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo that September, he finished sixth in his 200 m heat. Later in Tokyo, Australia's 4 × 400 m relay team crossed the line in 2:58.00, faster than the existing national record, before being disqualified for an illegal handover.

2026 Murphy opened 2026 by breaking Bruce Frayne's 41-year-old South Australian 400 m record with a 45.12-second run in Adelaide. Five weeks later, he lowered the record again to 44.81 seconds. The following month, he finished second behind Gout Gout at the Australian Athletics Championships in Sydney, lowering his four-year-old legal 200 m personal best to 19.88 seconds (+1.7 m/s) and becoming the second Australian to run a wind-legal sub-20-second 200 m.

In May, Murphy anchored Australia to bronze in the men's 4 × 400 m relay at the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, running a 43.79-second split as the team recorded 2:55.20 to set Australian and Oceanian records and become the fourth-fastest nation in the event's history. Later that month, he completed a sprint double at the Oceania Athletics Championships in Darwin, winning the 400 m in a personal best and championship record of 44.44 seconds before taking the 200 m in another championship record of 20.05 seconds (+0.6 m/s). In July, after recovering from a small hamstring tear, Murphy made his Commonwealth Games debut in Glasgow, competing in the semi-finals of the men's 200 metres but not advancing to the final.

Taken together, Murphy's performances across the sprint distances led Australian Athletics to describe him as Australia's best all-round sprinter in history over the 100 m, 200 m and 400 m.

Personal bests Event Mark Wind (m/s) Location Date Notes 100 metres 10.23 Adelaide, Australia 7 March 2026 South Australian record 200 metres 19.88 Sydney, Australia 12 April 2026 South Australian record 400 metres 44.44 Darwin, Australia 19 May 2026 South Australian record 4 × 100 m 38.89 Bochum, Germany 27 July 2025 4 × 400 m 2:55.20 Gaborone, Botswana 3 May 2026 ,