Ciara Mageean
 Mageean in 2022 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1992-03-12) 12 March 1992 Portaferry, County Down, Northern Ireland |
| Height | 170 cm (5 ft 7 in)[1] |
| Weight | 55 kg (121 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country | IrelandNorthern Ireland |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event | Middle-distance running |
| Coached by | Helen Clitheroe (2022–)Steve Vernon (2017–21)Jerry Kiernan (–2017) |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal bests | |
Medal record | |
Ciara Mageean (/ˈkɪərəməˈɡiːən/KEER-ə mə-GHEE-ən;[2] born 12 March 1992)[3] is a middle-distance runner from Portaferry in Northern Ireland who specialises in the 1500 metres. She is the 2024 European Athletics Championships gold medalist at the distance, the first individual Irish European champion since Sonia O'Sullivan.
She is a four-time European Athletics Championship medallist at the event, having also won bronze in 2016, silver in 2022 outdoors and bronze in 2019 indoors. Mageean also won silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She won three silver medals at World and European level in the U-18 and U-20 age groups. She represented Ireland at both the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She holds four Irish records and is a multiple national champion.
Career
Ciara Mageean won silver medals at the 2009 World Youth (800 metres) and 2010 World Junior (1500 metres) Championships. She added the 1500 m silver from the 2011 European Junior Championships. Her first senior international competition saw her finish 10th in the 1500 m at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, representing Northern Ireland.[3]
She competed in the 1500 m event at the 2016 European Athletics Championships, winning the bronze medal.[4] Mageean became Irish indoor record holder for the 1,500 m and the mile that season. She qualified to represent Ireland at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she reached the semi-finals.[5][3] Mageean was coached by former Irish athlete and friend Jerry Kiernan, who she credits for her recovery after serious ankle injuries.[6]
In 2017, Mageean moved to Manchester to work with Team New Balance, initially coached by Steve Vernon.[7]
She placed fourth in the 1500 m at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin.[8]
On 3 March 2019, she won the bronze medal in the event at the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow.[9] At the World Championships held in Doha in October, she finished 10th in the final of her specialist event in a personal best time of 4:00.15.[3]
In Bern, Switzerland, on 24 July 2020, Mageean became the first Irish woman to run sub-two minutes for the 800 m, adding to her mile and 1500 m national records.[10] In August, she set an Irish record in the 1000 m at the Diamond League meet in Monaco, breaking by more than three seconds Sonia O'Sullivan's 27-year-old record and moving into the top 10 on the world all-time list.[11]
Mageean tore her calf before the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and was eliminated in the heats of the 1500 m event.[3][12]
She had a successful 2022 season in which she was coached by Helen Clitheroe with the Manchester-based New Balance team.[13] Mageean chose to skip the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon in July after contracting COVID-19 the previous month,[14] and focused on the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and European Championships Munich 2022 held in August. She won the silver medal in the 1500 m at both competitions, in each case finishing second to Scottish athlete Laura Muir.[15][16] On 2 September, the 30-year-old earned her first Diamond League victory, winning her specialist event at the Brussels' Memorial Van Damme ahead of Muir. Mageean broke the four-minute barrier for the first time, and Sonia O'Sullivan's Irish record set in 1995, by more than two seconds. She achieved a personal best of 3:56.63, as her previous fastest time was 4:00.15, set in the 2019 World Championships final in Qatar.[17] Six days later, she came second in a tactical race at the Zürich Diamond Race final, finishing only behind two-time Olympic and World champion Faith Kipyegon.[18]
In August 2023, Mageean finished fourth in the final of the World Championships 1500 m.[19][20][21][22]
On 23 December 2023, Mageean became the parkrun female record holder with a time of 15:13 set in Victoria Park, Belfast.[23]
On 9 June 2024, Mageean won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the 2024 European Athletics Championships.[24][25]
Mageean withdrew from the 2024 Summer Olympics due to an Achilles injury.[26]
Personal life
Mageean was awarded a UCD Ad Astra Elite Athlete Scholarship and graduated from University College Dublin with a BSc in physiotherapy in 2017.[27][10]
On 4 July 2025, Mageean announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer and had begun treatment, stating that she was focusing on recovery and requested privacy during the process.[28]
Statistics
Personal bests
- 800 metres – 1:59.27 (Manchester 2023) NR
- 1000 metres – 2:31.06 (Monaco 2020) NR
- 1500 metres – 3:55.87 (Brussels 2023) NR
- 1500 metres indoor – 4:06.42 (Boston, MA 2020) NR
- One mile – 4:14.58 (Monaco 2023) NR
- One mile indoor – 4:28.31 (Boston, MA 2019) NR
- 3000 metres indoor – 8:47.23 (Manchester 2022)
National titles and circuit wins
- Irish Athletics Championships
- 800 metres: 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019
- 1500 metres: 2014, 2016, 2018
- Irish Indoor Athletics Championships
- 800 metres: 2016
- 3000 metres: 2017, 2019
- Diamond League
- 2022 (1500 m): Brussels Memorial Van Damme (NR)
International competitions
Recognition
- Irish National Athletics Awards
- 2022: Athlete of the Year, Track & Field Athlete of the Year[29]
References
- ^"Maggean Ciara". Rio2016.com. Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 25 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^"Ciara Mageean after the 3,000m at the 2015 Millrose Games" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ abcde"Ciara MAGEEAN – Athlete profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^"Ciara Mageean claims Ireland's 14th all-time European Athletics Championships medal". Irish Examiner. 10 July 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- ^"Rio 2016: Four Northern Ireland athletes named on Ireland's Olympic team". BBC Sport. 13 July 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- ^Ticket, The Season (25 March 2016). "'Finishing the race, I always want more' Ciara Mageean". Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^Duffy, Emma (11 November 2017). "Ciara Mageean parts ways with coach Jerry Kiernan to join UK team". The42. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ^"European Championships 2018: Ciara Mageean cruises through to 1500m final". BBC. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
- ^"Ciara Mageean wins bronze for Ireland in the European Indoor 1500m final". The 42. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- ^ abO'Riordan, Ian. "Ciara Mageean breaks Irish 800m record in Bern". The Irish Times.
- ^Whittington, Jessica (14 August 2020). "Laura Muir breaks British 1000m best on Diamond League return". AW. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ^Crumley, Euan (19 November 2022). "Why Ciara Mageean is embracing the pain". AW. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- ^Duffy, Emma (25 August 2022). "'There's never a guarantee in life or in sport that you'll have a moment like that again'". The42. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ^"Mageean in 'shape of my life' for Europeans". BBC Sport. 15 August 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ^"Ciara Mageean: Portaferry athlete secures silver medal in European 1500m final". BBC Sport. 19 August 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ^O'Riordan, Ian (19 August 2022). "Ciara Mageean strikes European silver after enthralling 1,500m final duel in Munich". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ^Dennehy, Cathal (2 September 2022). "Ciara Mageean smashes Sonia O'Sullivan's Irish 1500m record with Diamond League victory in Brussels". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ^Dennehy, Cathal (9 September 2022). "Ciara Mageean shines in Diamond League to claim second". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^"HEATS | 1500 Metres | Results | Budapest 23 | World Athletics Championships". WorldAthletics.org. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
- ^"RESULTS 1500 metres Women - Semi-finals"(PDF). International Association of Athletics Federations. 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ^"SUMMARY 1500 metre Women - Semi-finals"(PDF). International Association of Athletics Federations. 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ^"Creditable fourth for Mageean in 1500m final". RTÉ Sport. 22 August 2023.
- ^"Ireland's Ciara Mageean Sets Parkrun 5K Women's Record". 26 December 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^"Ciara Mageean delivers European gold in 1500m". RTE Sport. 9 June 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
- ^"Ciara Mageean wins gold and Adeleke and Mawdsley set up final showdown: As it happened on memorable night for Ireland". Irish Independent. 9 June 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
- ^"Injury rules Ireland's Mageean out of Olympics". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^"Ciara Mageean celebrates as cousin Conor helps Portaferry win Down hurling title". BBC. 26 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- ^"Ciara Mageean: Irish 1500m runner reveals cancer diagnosis". BBC Sport. 4 July 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
- ^"Ciara Mageean crowned athlete of the year". Irish Examiner. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
External links
- 1992 births
- Living people
- Women middle-distance runners from Northern Ireland
- Irish women middle-distance runners
- European Athletics Championships medalists
- People from Portaferry
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes for Ireland
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
- Commonwealth Games competitors for Northern Ireland
- Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Northern Ireland
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
- Athletes from County Down
- Alumni of University College Dublin
- Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
- People educated at Assumption Grammar School
- Diamond League winners
- 21st-century sportswomen from Northern Ireland
- Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics