Between the ages of five and fourteen, he was the winner of ten consecutive British BMX titles. In 1999 he won the European BMX Championship for the first time, and joined the Olympic Academy Programme in 2005. In 2008 he was selected for the British team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China as a competitor in the men's BMX. It was the first time the sport had been featured in an Olympic Games as an official sport; Phillips placed seventh in the second heat and was eliminated from the competition.