Ireland's European 1500m champion and Olympian Ciara Mageean (33) reveals cancer diagnosis
'I'm incredibly grateful to be surrounded by the love and support of my family and close friends'
Middle-distance runner Ciara Mageean. Pic:Mark Condren
In a post on Instagram on Friday evening, the 33-year-old wrote: 'To everyone who's been part of my journey so far, I have some difficult news to share: I've been diagnosed with cancer. It's been a lot to take in, but I've already started treatment and I'm incredibly grateful to be surrounded by the love and support of my family and close friends.'
Mageean, the reigning European 1500m champion, said: 'Right now, my focus is on healing and taking things one day at a time. I kindly ask that you respect my privacy and that of my loved ones as we move through this together. Your understanding means more than I can say.
'Thank you for the love and strength,' she added. 'I'm ready to face this with the same fight I've always brought to the track.'
The Co Down native last raced 12 months ago in Monaco but was forced to withdraw from the Paris Olympics a few weeks later due to an Achilles tendon issue that saw her undergo surgery in London last September.
She had been in the form of her life before the injury, kicking to glory at the European Championships in Rome last June ahead of Britain's Georgia Hunter Bell, who went on to win Olympic bronze in Paris.
Mageean spent the winter rehabbing and started back running earlier this year, eyeing a competitive comeback this summer and hoping to compete at the Tokyo World Championships in September, but she pulled the plug on that ambition in May after suffering a setback with her ankle.
Nonetheless, her sights were still set on reaching a fourth Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles, a decision she made in Paris last year.
'I sat down with Thomas and he put his arm around me and said, 'You won your gold medal in Rome and Italy had a special place for Jerry' [Kiernan, Mageean's former coach]. LA was his Olympics, so we're going to focus on that. My dream may have been dashed but in that moment, I firmly set my sights on the next four-year cycle.'
Mageean was a semi finalist at the Rio 2016 Games and in total has travelled to three Olympics.
Having been based in England for seven years, training with Team New Balance Manchester, Mageean moved back to Northern Ireland last year, having left the group earlier in the year. The Portaferry native bought a home in Belfast along with her fiance, Thomas Moran, and has been primarily based there over the past year.
A four-time European medallist, Mageean is the fastest Irishwoman in history at 800m, 1000m, 1500m and the mile. She is also a two-time world 1500m finalist, finishing just off the podium in fourth at the last edition in Budapest in 2023.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Dublin Live
6 hours ago
- Dublin Live
European Champion Ciara Mageean diagnosed with cancer
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info European Champion Ciara Mageean has been diagnosed with cancer. The athlete, who took the 1,500m European title in Rome in 2024, announced her diagnosis on social media on Friday evening and said she has already started treatment. She wrote on Instagram: "To everyone who's been part of my journey so far, I have some difficult news to share: I've been diagnosed with cancer. "It's been a lot to take in, but I've already started treatment and I'm incredibly grateful to be surrounded by the love and support of my family and close friends. "Right now, my focus is on healing and taking things one day at a time. I kindly ask that you respect my privacy and that of my loved ones as we move through this together. Your understanding means more than I can say. "Thank you for the love and strength. I'm ready to face this with the same fight I've always brought to the track." Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage.
Irish Independent
8 hours ago
- Irish Independent
St Patrick's Athletic in desperate need of inspiration ahead of European involvement after stalemate with Bohemians
St Patrick's Athletic 0 Bohemians 0 A return of just one goal in over 10 hours of football explains why St Patrick's Athletic are starting their European campaign in dire need of inspiration. The only full-time consolation for Stephen Kenny was that his side avoided the concession of one as a late Bohs siege almost resulted in a winner with Colm Whelan squandering a glorious chance to really pile on the misery at Richmond Park.
Irish Independent
8 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Joey O'Brien era begins with a win for Shelbourne but they need bizarre JJ Lunney goal to clinch points
The Joey O'Brien era started off for real in this tie at home to the league's bottom side, his first game in charge as the permanent successor to Damien Duff after two previous matches - both draws - as the Reds' interim head coach, and O'Brien certainly has food for thought over the weekend before Linfield come to town for the first leg of their Champions League battle. Shels were 2-0 up after six minutes and won by a two-goal margin but they did let the game get away from them for spells in the second half as Cork side, reduced to 10 men after a red card early in the second half for Charlie Lyons, recovered from an utterly dismal start to take the game to the champions. Shels needed a late - and bizarre - goal from JJ Lunney seven minutes from time to make sure. Shels are unlikely to have the gifts presented to them by Cork, in the form of soft goals and a red card, when they face the Blues in that European tie with a prize of €2m at the end. With just six minutes gone, it looked as if the game was already dead as far as City were concerned, with perhaps the temptation from some of the travelling support to make an early exit and beat the traffic. Cork were wide open, incredibly so, in that opening spell, both goals gifted to the champions. Only 90 seconds had elapsed when Shels were ahead. Lyons was far too lax in possession and he allowed Harry Wood to win the ball and Wood bounded forward to bundle the ball over the line. Cork barely had time to draw breath when they were 2-0 down. City as a unit were guilty of standing off and allowing Shels to play a series of passes across the field without a tackle to be seen, before Evan Caffrey picked out Wood. He played a short ball into the waiting Mipo Odubeko and he had time and space to fire past the unfortunate Conor Brann, making his debut in the City goal. It could have been 4-0 by the 20-minute mark, Brann saving from Ali Coote before Odubeko fired wide and there was a real concern for how much damage Shels could do. But City did find their feet, eventually, sparked on 36 minutes when Freddie Anderson got a header which was wide but still a threat. And on 42 minutes they were back in the game. Shels didn't deal with a corner from Alex Nolan, Anderson and Lyons combined to set up Kitt Nelson and came up with a nice finish, his third goal of the season. Cork boss Ger Nash made changes at the break, Seáni Maguire and veteran Seán Murray sacrificed as Evan McLaughlin and Malik Dijksteel came into the fray but they were then forced into a reshuffle five minutes after the restart when defender Lyons was dismissed, a straight red card for a challenge on Kerr McInroy. The arrival off the bench of another new face, defender Fiacre Kelleher, did add some steel and Cork will clearly benefit from the leadership of the vocal Kelleher in times ahead but this tie was always going to be a struggle. To their credit, Cork were a much better unit in the second half, even with that one-man deficit, as they frustrated the home side, without much of a threat of their own as front man Dijksteel was starved of any service. Shels looked unconvincing for long spells, coming close on 63 minutes when Wood - their best player on the night - fired wide before James Norris also went close. On 76 minutes Cork had Matthew Kiernan to thank for blocking a shot from Wood, a concern for home fans when Wood appeared to pull up with an injury in that goal attempt. Even though City did not look likely to score again, Shels still needed an insurance policy and Lunney delivered on 83 minutes as he whipped into the box a ball which was more of a cross than a shot and it caught Brann off guard, a third goal for the Reds and a first win in four games. Shelbourne: Kearns; Coyle, Ledwidge, Barrett; Caffrey (Boyd 60), Lunney, McInroy (Kelly 60), Norris, Coote (Chapman 60), Wood (O'Sullivan 77); Odubeko (Martin 71). Cork City: Brann; Mbeng, Crowley, Anderson (Lutz 76), Lyons, Kiernan; Bolger, Murray (McLaughlin 46); Nolan (Kelleher 53), Murray, Nelson (O'Sullivan 53); Maguire (Dijksteel 46).
