LAST UPDATE | 25 Aug 2022
IT’S ALL SLOWLY sinking in. Ciara Mageean will always have this special summer, the Sound of Silver, a dazzling European Championships and Commonwealth Games double.
A class act on and off the track, the 1500m star will bask in the glory, enjoy and appreciate her success. But the wheels keep on turning. Life, and sport, goes on.
After the exhilarating highs of Munich and Birmingham, this week felt like a crash. An emotional rollercoaster, back to reality and normality at her Manchester base.
The return of the mundane runs and training sessions. The party on hold, the champagne on ice. Her season’s not over just yet.
In the form of her life, Mageean is firmly future-focused. Keep the good times rolling.
Consolidate 2022 as the best one yet, with the early September Diamond League meets in Brussels and Zurich, and Fifth Avenue Mile in New York among the remaining targets; a new personal best — currently 4:00.15 — and national record — Sonia O’Sullivan’s 3:58.85 from 1995 — unquestionably achievable.
“I know that I’m in sub-four shape,” she enthuses. “I’m out there racing Laura [Muir] and pushing her to the line, and Laura’s a 3:55 runner. I’m not sure what she’s ran this season, but she’s certainly ran fast.
“I would absolutely love to go under the Irish record in the 1500m, it’s something I’ve been setting my sights on for a lot of years now. I feel quite unfortunate that I haven’t had the chance to be in a fast 1500m yet this season, I ran two Diamond Leagues before the championships this summer, one in Birmingham, one in Rome, I was sure that Rome would at least be fast and it wasn’t. I’m really hoping that I have the chance to get into some faster races in the tail-end of this season.”
The Portaferry 30-year-old will happily look further down the line too, and won’t shy away from what’s ahead: World Championships next summer, and of course, Olympics thereafter.
“Obviously, the next two years are a big push. I would certainly now put my focus onto World Champs next summer, being back on that line and making a final. I definitely believe that I was in the shape to be a World finallist this summer, but obviously made the decision to focus on two other champs.
“Cross Country and indoors are also important. The outdoor season is where all of the main goals towards everything goes, but I’d love to get back out at the Euro Cross — it’s a love-hate relationship, but I do love to hate it — and then obviously European Indoors will be a big aim because I feel I could medal there.
“World Champs next summer will be the big goal and then Olympic Games is the massive focus. My aim is to stay consistent and healthy. And I really do believe if I can just get a few years of consistency, continuously knocking out similar races where I’m competitive on the world stage regularly, I can really aim to be where I want to be at an Olympic Games. I was disappointed with my two previous Olympic Games, so I would certainly want to come away in a happier place from Paris.”
It’s a fascinating experience just listening to Mageean. Ask a simple, straightforward question, and she’ll give you the most comprehensive, colourful answer. Always so well-spoken, and eloquent.
Talk the talk, walk the walk.
Her career has been far from straightforward. Ups and downs, highs and lows, good days and horrendous ones. From injury to grief, she’s been hit with so many setbacks through the years. She’s been to hell and back, but it never once occurred to her to give up. She’s fronted up to every challenge, and come back better and stronger for it.
That “in-built resilience” and maturity were key this time around, no shortage of hurdles crossed to even get to this point in 2022.
“It’s probably slowly sinking in, just the season that I’ve had,” she smiles. “It’s pretty surreal, it’s nice having two silver medals sitting on the mantelpiece.
Play that on repeat⬆️⬆️🤩
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) August 19, 2022
👑@ciaramageean
pic.twitter.com/K3L3LRM31G
“On reflection, I didn’t have the smoothest of seasons really. I tore my calf at Olympics last summer, had a rocky build-up to the winter, I had to have an injection in my knee before Euro Cross, then I tore my calf in January as soon as I opened the indoor season, then I had to get an injection in my ankle and went off on camp, ended up getting Covid.
“I suppose I just kept trucking on and didn’t really let any of those occasions dwell too largely on my head. You can’t dwell on the negative, you have to keep moving forward.”
Her glowing personality shines through with each and every word she utters, as does the admirable attitude she has formed through the years. She’s well aware that opportunities are more and more limited at this stage of the game, and she needs to grab every chance with both hands.
Exhibit A was Munich last Friday nigh, after a battle for the ages with long-time rival Muir.
Sheer ecstasy and raw emotion followed.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had such a smile crossing the line. I definitely felt emotional on the victory lap, the tricolours everywhere. These occasions are few and far between and there’s never a guarantee in life or in sport that you’ll have a moment like that again. I made sure that I walked for a little minute and looked up, took a deep breath, because those are the little moments that you have to savour in life. I’m certainly going to remember that championship for as long as I have left anyway.”
That emotion carried through the night, long after those heartwarming scenes on the track with Muir — their mutual respect on show for all to see, though Mageean vows to “try to surpass her eventually” — and that tearful embrace with new coach coach Helen Clitheroe.
“That little quiet moment,” she explains, “it’s often on the cool-down whenever you’re like, ‘Isn’t this great? I’m so happy,’ my mind goes to the people that are maybe not there, who I can’t share it with.
“And Jerry Kiernan is always one of the first people that pops to mind with that.
This man will be so proud of a girl he nursed back to her best, after tough few years @ciaramageean is definitely back at the top table! Where she belongs!! Get in there Ciara…. pic.twitter.com/sODZVsI7UW
— Believe And Achieve (@believe9achieve) August 19, 2022
“My granny Kathleen, I know she would have absolutely loved to see me out there racing. I have a grandfather that never actually got to see me do athletics, he passed away whenever I was 13. If he knew that I was running for Ireland, the pride that he would have… I do believe that he’s somewhere up there watching down seeing that, but there are little parts where you’re like, ‘God, I wish I could I could tell him that.’ The pride my Granda Mageean would have had knowing that his little grand-daughter was running around with the tricolour over her shoulder and bringing a medal back home.
“My mind does go to those people and people that I wish I could share that moment with, but I believe that they’re watching, and they’re behind me every step of the way.”
Asked to compare and contrast her 2016 bronze with this silver, the late, great Kiernan is on her mind once more. It’s a success they shared; Mageean’s boyfriend Thomas reminding her of the UCD homecoming in recent days.
“Life throws you so many beautiful experiences,” she beams. “I don’t think I’d be able to pick between the two medals, they both mean a lot.”
There are interesting parallels, though: ’16 was a big comeback statement, her first major medal as a senior for Ireland after a similarly rocky journey — “I came from that glistening underage career where everybody had me dubbed as the next Sonia O’Sullivan and the pressure that comes with that, then I got injured and didn’t race as an U23 so that was a huge space without actually having an Irish vest,” as she recalls.
She makes another notable point earlier in that same answer. “This summer has just been really special, to be able to medal twice is something fantastic. Being from the North as well, being able to medal for Northern Ireland and for Ireland, it’s a lovely thing to do in one summer. To be able to represent both is fantastic, and I feel hugely privileged to do it. I’m very clearly a very proud Irish woman, but I’m also proud to be from the North. It’s really nice to be able to do that.”
Naturally, as is commonplace after every major championships, Mageaan is asked to look at the bigger picture. Funding, coaching, structures. What’s next for Irish athletics?
The Down woman is in a professional coaching relationship with Team New Balance, who she reveals, pay Clitheroe’s wage. For so many other Irish athletes’ coaches, though, there’s no monetary gain.
“It’s something that is probably unique about our sport in many ways, we compete on a professional stage, ultimately, whenever you make the Olympic Games but very few of our coaches are in a position that they are paid, which is tough because so many coaches in athletics do so on a voluntary basis and our whole sport is really built on volunteers.
“Maybe the the older I get in this sport, the more I appreciate and realise just the sheer amount of work that all of the volunteers in our sport, in all aspects, put in, and I have a huge amount of gratitude to all of them. But yeah, Helen’s paid by New Balance and I’m glad to say that she is because I do feel that you should earn your worth from the sport. Your time should be appreciated and probably provided some sort of income from it.”
Asked about gaps in the system and whether there’s one particular area which needs touching up, Mageean hems and haws as she carefully weighs it all up.
She stresses that she’s “been very fortunate and very lucky throughout the Irish system that they’ve always provided me with fantastic support” and has no qualms about being on and off funding.
In a lengthy answer considering potential improvements, she emphasises the importance of sports psychology over and over, and suggests support networks and team bases for athletes and coaches as one interesting solution going forward.
“I suppose if I reflect on what I’ve got in Manchester, and how I would want that to be emulated back home, it’s that team aspect of having people around you and living that professional-type life,” Mageean concludes.
“Not everybody’s as lucky as I am to be able to be a full-time athlete. That all ultimately boils down to money. But we can’t just all be provided enough money to live on.”
