Ciara Mageean, 2024 European 1500m champion and two-time Olympian, dies aged 34
Ciara Mageean, the 2024 European 1500m champion and two-time Olympian from Portaferry in Northern Ireland, has died at the age of 34, a statement on her social media said on 1 November 2026.
A statement on her social media said: "At 6.30am this morning, Ciara lost her battle with cancer surrounded by her loved ones. "A beloved daughter, sister, wife, friend and inspiration to so many, she will be deeply missed. "Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam."
Mageean revealed in July last year that she had been diagnosed with cancer. She represented Ireland at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics and clinched the first major title of her career with 1500m gold at the 2024 European Championships in Rome. The County Down athlete also represented Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games, winning 1500m silver at Birmingham 2022.
A multi-sport youth, Mageean played camogie for Portaferry GAC before concentrating on athletics; her junior record included 1500m silvers at the 2010 World Junior Championships and the 2011 European Junior Championships, and she reached the 1500m final at the 2010 Commonwealth Games as an 18-year-old. Her early senior progression was disrupted by a serious ankle injury that ended her hopes of competing at London 2012; after surgery in 2013 she won the Irish 1500m title on her return in July 2014.
Mageean took 1500m bronze at the 2016 European Championships in Amsterdam but exited the Olympic 1500m at the semi-final stage in her Olympic debut. In late 2017 she left her Dublin base to join Steve Vernon's Team New Balance in Manchester after parting ways with coach Jerry Kiernan, and she later won a European Indoor bronze in March 2019.
At the 2020 Diamond League meet in Monaco Mageean ran 2:31.06 for 1,000m, taking 3.6 seconds off Sonia O'Sullivan's 27-year-old Irish record. A calf injury disrupted her preparations for the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021 and she exited in the heats, but under coach Helen Clitheroe she produced a strong 2022 season with 1500m silver at the European Championships and Commonwealth silver, both behind Laura Muir.
Two weeks after the 2022 European Championships Mageean beat Laura Muir at Diamond League Brussels, recording 3:56.63 to take 2.22 seconds off O'Sullivan's 27-year-old Irish record and register her first sub-four-minute 1500m. She finished fourth in the 2023 World Championships final in Budapest, lowered Sonia O'Sullivan's 29-year Irish mile record by over two seconds in July 2023, and was named the 2023 BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year.
In the 1500m final at the 2024 European Championships in Rome Mageean found herself boxed behind Great Britain duo Georgia Bell and Jemma Reekie before she darted through a gap and powered down the straight to victory in 4:04.66. An ecstatic Mageean said "words can't even come close" to describing how she felt after sealing the title.
After her success in Rome, an Achilles injury interrupted her preparations for Paris and forced her to withdraw on the eve of her heat at the 2024 Olympic Games.