Irish runner Ciara Mageean, 2024 European 1500m champion, dies aged 34
Ireland's middle-distance runner, the 2024 European 1500m champion, has died at 34. Her family announced her death.
Irish middle-distance runner Sīra Mageana, the 2024 European athletics champion over 1500 metres, has died at the age of 34. Her family announced her death, as reported by The Guardian. Mageana came from the town of Portaferry in Northern Ireland and died on Sunday morning at 6.30.
The family said on social media that she was surrounded by loved ones in her final moments. Their statement described her as a beloved daughter, sister, wife, friend and a source of inspiration to many people.
Career
Mageana was one of Ireland's best-known track and field athletes and specialised in the 1500 metres. She represented Ireland at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and in Tokyo in 2020, and set several Irish records.
In 2024 she won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the European Athletics Championships in Rome. She thus became the first Irish athlete since Sonia O'Sullivan to win a European title in an individual event. An Achilles tendon injury kept Mageana out of the Paris Olympics that same year.
Illness and final months
The following year the athlete announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer. In October of this year, a few weeks before her death, she married her partner Thomas Moran.
Ireland's prime minister Micheál Martin expressed deep sadness at her passing and offered condolences to her husband, family and friends. Deputy prime minister Simon Harris described her as a European champion, a two-time Olympian, a proud Irish sportswoman and an outstanding personality.
