O’Lionard said: “It was a great feeling to come home and go sub four, the crowd where amazing and the athletes were top drawer.”

On Saturday night O’Lionard fine tuned his preparations for the World Indoors with an 800 meters indoor PB in Notre Dame.

His time of 1:48.40 is his first time under 1:52, although he has only ever run a handful of races over this distance.

A worrying aspect of his race is that he relaxed a little bit too much in the middle part and allowed his rivals get away from him. He was the fastest of all in the last 50m but just couldn’t edge ahead for the win.

To be fair to him, he had just come down from altitude training in Albuquerque, so he will be far more acclimatised when he toes the line this morning in the 1,500m.

He said: “I’m really happy with that run, I decided last year to come down from the 5,000 and work at the 1500. I used Saturday night to try and speed up.”

Always confident in his own ability, O’Lionard feels great as he prepares for his first World Indoors in Istanbul. “It was a real confidence booster running so well over 800, my first in about six years, a PB as well this close to the indoors.”

For so long regarded as the great hope of Irish middle distance running, O’Lionard’s decision to move down the distances from 5,000 to 1500 has seen him become a force on the international stage. Early in the 2011 season the Cork man ran 28.33 for 10,000 meters, setting a good foundation over the longer distance.

It is hard to imagine that O’Lionard is performing at this level. In the summer of 2010 the proud Leevale athlete developed a hernia and a back injury, both would require surgery, and the prognosis on his athletic career was grim.

However, undeterred O’Lionard worked harder each day as much as his body would allow and made the Irish Under 23 team for the European Cross Country. It was his front running over the first two laps with Waterford’s David McCarthy that set the bedrock for victory. Although he was the sixth-placed scorer on the team that won gold it was illness rather than fitness or injury that pushed him down the field.

As his five teams mates celebrated, O’Lionard struggled around the final lap of the course, urged on by the Irish supporters and coaching staff. The Irish contingent knew that if he failed to finish he would not collect the gold medal he deserved.

In gallant style his team mates cheered as he crossed the line. The Cork native was an obvious omission from the presentation as he was stuck in the dressing room since he was too unwell to stand with his team mates as they collected their medals.

Since finishing college in 2011 O’Lionard has moved into the Nike group in Oregon, an elite training group which includes Britain’s 5,000 meter World champion Mo Farah. A challenge all scholarship athletes face when their scholarship finishes is how to keep going, but O’Lionard feels right at home in Oregon.

He said: “I was very lucky to get involved with the Nike group. I was concerned when college finished, how I was to take the next step. The Nike group has been amazing for me, Great facilities and back-up and such a good standard of athletes to work with. I have learnt a lot over my time in Oregon.”

O’Lionard is completely focused on his World Indoor performance which starts this morning at 12.55pm. After the championships Ciaran will return to Ireland to rest and spend some time with his family in Cork.

“I have no plans for between now and August. I just want to unwind for a week, so I’ll see how I am and then start planning for London,” he said.

O’Lionard also has a good chance of making tomorrow afternoon’s 1500 final, even after taking into account his inexperience at this level. The main title contenders are Morcoccan Abdalaatie Iguider, Kenyan Bethwell Birgen and Turkish runner Ilham Tanui Ozbilen.

Ciaran O’Lionard’s 1500 meter campaign starts today at 10.55am Irish time with the final due at 5pm tomorrow.