Aidan Murphy (born 14 October 2003) is an Australian sprinter who competes in the 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres and relay events. A four-time Oceania champion, he holds the Australian and Oceanian records in the men's 4 × 400 metres relay and has represented Australia at multiple World Athletics Championships.
Early life Murphy was born in Adelaide, South Australia. 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. That season, he won the 200 m at both the Australian Athletics Championships and the Oceania Athletics Championships. Murphy then made his senior international debut at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, finishing sixth in his 200 m heat. Two weeks later, he reached the 200 m semi-finals at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, missing the final by one place and 0.01 seconds.
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. Murphy later said that he had considered leaving athletics during this period, before beginning to train under Nik Hagicostas in Adelaide that August.
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. In March, Murphy won the 200 m at the Adelaide Invitational with a meet-record time of 20.43 seconds (−1.3 m/s), defeating Diamond League champion Jacory Patterson. The following month, he finished second behind 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). That 400 m performance moved him to second on the Australian all-time list, 0.06 seconds behind Darren Clark's national record. 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 life Murphy is studying for a Bachelor of Economics at Adelaide University.
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 ,
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