Ciara Mageean ( ) (born 12 March 1992) is a

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

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 Flo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

who specialises in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') 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 Athle ...

. She is a three-time European Athletics Championship medallist at the event, with bronze in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

and silver in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

outdoors, and bronze in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

indoors. Mageean won also silver at the

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

. She earned three silver medals at World and European level in the Under-18 and U20 age groups. Mageean represented

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

at both the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

and

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...

. She holds four Irish records and is a multiple national champion.

Career

Ciara Mageean won silver medals at the 2009 World Youth (

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( 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 an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since t ...

) 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 (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

in Delhi, representing

. She didn’t run at all as an under 23 due to injury which ended up with surgery. 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 compet ...

, 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 ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

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

Jerry Kiernan Jeremiah 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 he finis ...

. She credits Kiernan for her recovery after serious ankle injuries. In 2017, Mageean moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

to work with Team

New Balance New Balance Athletics, Inc. (NB), best known as simply 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 ...

, 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. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Berlin, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (with Edinburgh hosting the diving events and Gleneagles ...

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 e ...

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 th ...

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 ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') 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, it is home to most of the count ...

in October, she finished 10th in the final of her specialist event in a personal best time of 4:00.15. 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. In August, she set an Irish record in the 1000 m at the Diamond League meet in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, breaking by more than three seconds

Sonia O'Sullivan Sonia O'Sullivan (born 28 November 1969) is an Irish former track and field athlete. She won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1995 World Championships, and a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2000 Olympic Games. Her 2000 m wor ...

's 27-year-old record and moving into the top 10 on the world all-time list. Mageean tore her

calf Calf most often refers to: * Calf (animal), the young of domestic cattle. * Calf (leg), in humans (and other primates), the back portion of the lower leg Calf or calves may also refer to: Biology and animal byproducts * Veal, meat from calves * ...

before the delayed

in 2021, and was eliminated in the heats of the 1500 m event. She had a successful 2022 season choosing to skip the

in Eugene in July (as she contracted

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

the previous month) to focus on the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and European Championships Munich 2022 in August. This strategy seems to have been vindicated by her subsequent success – winning the silver medal in the 1500 m at both competitions, in each case coming second to her Scottish rival

Laura Muir Laura Muir (born 9 May 1993) is a Scottish middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the 1500 metres, having previously finished seventh in the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Muir won the bronze meda ...

. Her coach for this season was

Helen Clitheroe Helen Teresa Clitheroe (née Pattinson) (born 2 January 1974 in Preston, England) is a female former British middle and long-distance runner. Athletics career She competed in the 1500 m at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and in the 3000 ...

with the Manchester-based New Balance team. On 2 September, the then 30-year-old earned her first Diamond League victory as she won her specialist event at the

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

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 is now the final event of the Diamond Le ...

, breaking for the first time the 4-minute barrier and Sonia O'Sullivan's Irish national record set back in 1995 by more than two seconds. She achieved a big personal best of 3:56.63 to beat finally Muir in second as Mageean's 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 , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

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

Faith Kipyegon Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon (born 10 January 1994) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner specializing in the 1500 metres. A 2016 Rio Olympic and 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion with the Games record at the latter, she is the second woman in history t ...

and beating a world-class field again.

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) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

with a BSc in Physiotherapy in 2017. Her cousin Conor plays hurling for

and she watched him win the 2020

Down Senior Hurling Championship The Down Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Morgan Fuels Down GAA Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Down SHC) is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Down GAA clubs. The Down Count ...

Achievements

Personal bests

– 1:59.69 ( Bern 2020) *

1000 metres The 1000 metres is an uncommon middle-distance running event in track and field competitions. The 1000 yards, an imperial alternative, was sometimes also contested. All-time top 25 *h = hand timed *i = indoor performance *A = affected by ...

– 2:31.06 (

2020) *

– 3:56.63 (

2022) ** 1500 metres indoor – 4:06.42 (

Boston, MA Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

2020) * One mile – 4:19.03 (

2019) ** One mile indoor – 4:28.31 (

2019) ** 3000 metres indoor – 8:47.23 (

2022)

Circuit wins, and National championships

* Diamond League **

(1500 m): Brussels Memorial Van Damme () * 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

Competition record

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 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 of Ireland Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from County Down Alumni of University College Dublin