Ciara Mageean ( ; born 12 March 1992) is a

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

from

Portaferry Portaferry () is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. It is home to the Exploris aquarium and is well known for the annual Gala Week Fl ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

who specialises in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

. She is the

2024 European Athletics Championships The 26th European Athletics Championships were held from 7 to 12 June 2024 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. It was the third time Italy staged this sporting event after the inaugural 1934 European Athletics Championships, 1934 edition in T ...

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 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, silver in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

outdoors and bronze in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

indoors. Mageean also won silver at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

. She won three silver medals at World and European level in the U-18 and U-20 age groups. She represented

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

at both the

2016 Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

and

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. She holds four

Irish records Irish commonly refers to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the island and the sovereign state *** Erse (disambiguati ...

and is a multiple national champion.

Career

Ciara Mageean won silver medals at the 2009 World Youth (

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

) and 2010 World Junior (

) 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 The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

in Delhi, representing

. She competed in the 1500 m event at the

2016 European Athletics Championships The 2016 European Athletics Championships was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, between 6 and 10 July 2016. It was the first time the Netherlands hosted the event. Due to 2016 being an Olympic year, there was no racewalking and the marathon competi ...

, winning the bronze medal. 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 Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, where she reached the semi-finals. Mageean was coached by former Irish athlete and friend

Jerry Kiernan Jeremiah "Fran" Kiernan (31 May 1953 – 21 January 2021) was an Irish long-distance runner. Biography Kiernan was born in Listowel, County Kerry. He represented his native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, where ...

, who she credits for her recovery after serious ankle injuries. In 2017, Mageean moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

to work with Team

New Balance New Balance Athletics, Inc. (NB), doing business as New Balance, is one of the world's major sports footwear and apparel manufacturers. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the multinational corporation was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch Su ...

, initially coached by Steve Vernon. She placed fourth in the 1500 m at the

2018 European Championships The 2018 European Championships were the first edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Berlin, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (with Edinburg ...

in Berlin. On 3 March 2019, she won the bronze medal in the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

at the

2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held between 1 and 3 March 2019 at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland. This was the second time this event was held in the city after the 1990 edition and the third time it was held in the ...

in Glasgow. At the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

held in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

in October, she finished 10th in the final of her specialist event in a personal best time of 4:00.15. In

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, 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. In August, she set an Irish record in the 1000 m at the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

meet in

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, 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. Mageean tore her calf before the delayed

in 2021 and was eliminated in the heats of the 1500 m event. She had a successful 2022 season in which she was coached by Helen Clitheroe with the Manchester-based New Balance team. Mageean chose to skip the

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

in July after contracting

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

the previous month, 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 Laura Muir (; born 9 May 1993) is a Scottish Middle-distance running, middle- and Long-distance running, long-distance runner. She is the Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the 1500 metres, having prev ...

. On 2 September, the 30-year-old earned her first

victory, winning her specialist event at the

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Memorial Van Damme The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it now serves as a final event of the D ...

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. Six days later, she came second in a tactical race at the

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Diamond Race final, finishing only behind two-time Olympic and World champion

Faith Kipyegon Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon (born 10 January 1994) is a Kenyan Middle-distance running, middle and Long-distance running, long distance runner. Kipyegon is the current List of world records in athletics, world record holder for the 1500 metres, 1 ...

. In August 2023, Mageean finished fourth in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the World Championships 1500 m. On 23 December 2023, Mageean became the

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...

female record holder with a time of 15:13 set in Victoria Park, Belfast. On 9 June 2024, Mageean won the gold medal in the

at the

. Mageean withdrew from the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

due to an Achilles injury.

Personal life

Mageean was awarded a UCD Ad Astra Elite Athlete Scholarship and graduated from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

with a BSc in Physiotherapy in 2017.

Statistics

Personal bests

– 1:59.27 (

2023) *

1000 metres The 1000 metres, 1 kilometer run, or 1K run is an uncommon middle-distance running event in track and field competitions. It consists of two and a half laps around an outdoor 400 m track, or five laps around an indoor 200 m track. The 1000 ...

– 2:31.06 (

2020) *

– 3:55.87 (

2023) ** 1500 metres indoor – 4:06.42 (

Boston, MA Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

2020) * One mile – 4:14.58 (

2023) ** One mile indoor – 4:28.31 (

2019) **

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...

indoor – 8:47.23 (

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 *

(1500 m): Brussels Memorial Van Damme ()

International competitions

Recognition

* Irish National Athletics Awards ** 2022: Athlete of the Year, Track & Field Athlete of the Year

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mageean, Ciara 1992 births Living people Female middle-distance runners from Northern Ireland Irish female 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 British female middle-distance runners Diamond League winners 21st-century sportswomen from Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics