Phiri made the semi-finals of the men's 60 metres at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships by finishing second in the first heat but was unable to start the race. He qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London because his fastest time of 10:06 seconds met the "B" standard time. He prepared for the Olympics by travelling to the Netherlands and adapted to a new climate and time zone. Phiri made the semi-finals of the 100 metres but did not progress into the final after finishing fifth in the event's second heat. He finished seventh in the 100 metres at the 2012 running at the Stockholm Bauhaus Athletics. Phiri secured a third-place finish in the 100 metres at the 2012 Padua International Athletics Meeting, with a time of 10:20 seconds. He won the 60 metres event at the 2013 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston with a time of 6.97 seconds. Phiri made it to the semi-finals of that year's running of the Adidas Grand Prix in New York City where he secured a fourth-place finish in his heat in the 100 metres which meant he did not progress to the final of the event. He recorded a ten-second time at an IFAM Meeting in Oordegem on 1 June.