Irish athlete Ciara Mageean has died aged 34, it was announced on Sunday on her social media. The post stated that at 6.30am she "lost her battle with cancer surrounded by her loved ones".
Mageean was from Portaferry in Northern Ireland. In May 2025, she was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer. In a social media post, she was described as a "loved daughter, sister, wife, friend and inspiration to many".
Athletics Ireland said: "We are heartbroken. An inspiration to many, Ciara will be remembered for her bravery, kindness and incredible spirit."
Earlier this month, Mageean married her long-term partner Thomas Moran in a small civil ceremony in Belfast.
Mageean represented Ireland at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games, while her appearance at the 2024 Paris Games was prevented by an Achilles tendon injury which forced her to withdraw. In the same 2024 year, she won gold in the 1,500m at the European Championships in Rome. In the final, she was boxed in behind the British pair Georgie Bell and Jemma Reekie, but managed to squeeze through a gap and powerfully finish for victory in a time of 4:04.66.
She represented Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games, where she won silver in the 1,500m in Birmingham in 2022. She also played camogie for Portaferry GAC.
Her junior results include silver in the 1,500m at the 2010 World Junior Championships and the 2011 European Junior Championships. As an 18-year-old, she reached the 1,500m final at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. A serious ankle injury ended her hopes for an Olympic debut in London 2012. After surgery in 2013, Mageean won the Irish title in the 1,500m upon her return in July 2014.
In 2016, she won bronze in the 1,500m at the European Championships in Amsterdam, while her Olympic debut ended with elimination in the 1,500m semi-finals. At the end of 2017, she left her base in Dublin and joined Steve Vernon's Team New Balance in Manchester after splitting with coach Jerry Kiernan. In March 2019, she won bronze at the European Indoor Championships.
At the 2020 Diamond League meeting in Monaco, she ran two minutes and 31.06 seconds, thereby improving Sonia O'Sullivan's 27-year-old Irish record in the 1,000m by 3.6 seconds. At the postponed 2021 Tokyo Games, an Achilles injury disrupted her preparations and she was eliminated in the qualifying heats.
In 2022, under the guidance of former British Olympian Helen Clitheroe, she won silver in the 1,500m at the European and Commonwealth Games, behind Laura Muir. Two weeks after the European Championships, she beat Muir and the world elite in the 1,500m at the Diamond League in Brussels. Her time of 3:56.63 was 2.22 seconds faster than O'Sullivan's Irish record and marked her first run under four minutes.
In 2023, she finished fourth in the final of the World Championships in Budapest. After improving O'Sullivan's Irish mile record by more than two seconds in July, she was named BBC Sportsperson of the Year for Northern Ireland 2023.
Earlier this year, Mageean stated that she "continues to find joy in everyday life" and thanked people for their support after her diagnosis. In a June interview with the BBC, she said she was "grateful" to have had a career "that many others did not have the opportunity to have".
