– Niall Kelly reports from the Olympic Stadium, Rio de Janeiro
WITH 200M TO race, Ireland’s Ciara Mageean was very much in the hunt for a place in the women’s 1500m final.
But after producing a brilliant effort to put herself into contention, the final kick of the world’s best middle-distance runners proved too much for her to handle.
Magaeean, the European bronze medallist, finished 11th in this evening’s first semi-final at the Olympic Stadium, her time of 4:08.07 just two-hundredths of a second outside her season’s best.
World silver medallist Faith Kipyegon won the race in a time of 4:03.95 with the reigning world champion, and current world record holder, Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia taking the faster second semi-final in 4:03.06.
Bidding to become the first Irishwoman to qualify for the Olympic 1500m final, Mageean ran a positive race from the gun and was at the head of proceedings, settling in second place early on.
After dropping back into the middle of the bunch, she pulled wide and moved back up into fifth position at the bell.
With five to qualify from each semi plus the two fastest losers overall, she made her move early on that final lap but was picked off by a succession of her rivals over the final 200 metres.
