CIARA MAGEEAN FINISHED in 10th place at the IAFF World Athletics Championships 1,500m final on Saturday evening as Sifan Hassan clinched her second gold medal.
The phenomenal Dutch woman set a new championship record with an incredible time of 3:51.96, adding to her 10,000m gold secured earlier this week.
Mageean set a new personal best with 4:00.15 at the Khalifa International Stadium. Britain’s Laura Muir battled hard in the final lap, but had to contend with a fifth-place finish after running 3:55.76 — Faith Kipyegon taking silver and Gudaf Tsegay bronze.
The Portaferry native earned her place in Saturday’s final with a controlled, tactical performance on Thursday night which yielded a time of 4:15.49 and a fifth-place finish to clinch automatic qualification.
In the process, Mageean became the first Irish female athlete to reach a World Athletics Championships 1,500m final since Sonia O’Sullivan achieved the feat in Athens back in 1997.
The Co Down physiotherapist has been training at high altitude in Switzerland over recent weeks, hoping to add to her European Indoor bronze medal won in Glasgow’s Emirates Arena back in March.
Mageean said she was ‘absolutely ecstatic’ reaching Saturday’s final as she continues to prepare for next summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo. She previously enjoyed Olympic experience in Rio in 2016, where she reached the 1,500m semi-finals.
Despite her 10th place finish, Mageean will take renewed confidence from her performances in Doha — reaching a world final on top of setting a new personal best up against elite performers like Hassan, Muir and Olympic champion Kipyegon.
She broke her own 1,500m record tonight by more than a second. Her impressive time of 4:00.15 just shy of reaching the sub four-minute mark and enough to secure a podium finish in most other years.
As witnessed by Hassan’s record-breaking finish to clinch gold, this year’s world final was the most competitive in the event’s entire history. Each of tonight’s competitors bar one set either a new personal, national or season’s best.
Tenth in 4:00.15 is good enough to medal most years. The best women's 1500m championship race in history. @ciaramageean can take huge credit. A world class performance #WorldAthleticsChamps
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) October 5, 2019
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
