Ciara Mageean in her own words: ‘You need to smell the roses because this doesn’t last forever’

“Sport was my escape, my identity, my dream and my driver. I learnt passion through sport, learnt how to control my emotions, how to harness my ambition. Sport gave me a way to express myself and to grow. To learn about who I was, and what I could be. To show me that the only limits I have in life are those I set for myself. Sport is my pulse, it’s not everything in my life but without it, I’d cease to exist as I know it.”

On the precious role of sport in her life.

“That was where my first love for sport began. It taught me so much about the athlete I was going to become but probably more importantly the person I was going to become, the person who I am.”

On how Gaelic games ignited her sporting passions.

“If you asked any of the girls I played camogie with or against they would tell you that I had a competitive mentality from an early age. Especially my friends who didn’t play sport. They were like, ‘Ciara, you’re a bit scary whenever you play camogie’.”

On finding her inner tiger once she hit that camogie pitch.

“I wanted to represent Ireland at the highest level. My toss-up was between camogie and athletics. I dreamt of being in the Olympics, so athletics won. Nothing made me prouder than pulling on my Ireland vest.”

On what determined her sporting focus.

“I never took it as a burden. I just said, ‘if they want to compare me, they can compare me’. I always thought that hopefully one day I can make them see that I’m Ciara Mageean and they’ll not want to compare me to anybody else.”

On being labelled ‘The Next Sonia O’Sullivan’ since her teenage years.

“I can remember sitting in the cafe in Dublin, in tears, looking across at my old coach Jerry Kiernan. I was 20 at the time, and facing surgery on a bone spur in my ankle that had plagued me. What am I going to be if I’m not The Runner? But Jerry was a wise old soul and he taught me that I was so much more. I was special on my own, as a person, not just The Runner.”

On coping with the injury that blighted her in the early stages of her career.

“I went out on that track today super nervous but with a plan and a mission and that was to hear Amhrán na bhFiann. When I was getting boxed in I thought I had nowhere to go, but I didn’t grow up playing camogie to get boxed in.”

On winning gold in the 1500m at the 2024 European Championships.

“You can either carry this thing around on your shoulders and let it burden you and be a weight going forward, or you can say, ‘D’you know what? Life’s not fair sometimes.’ But that’s sport. I made the decision to put my eggs in that basket because when it pays off, by God it’s beautiful. And when it doesn’t, it’s okay. Because you can say I have no regrets, I gave it absolutely everything.”

On missing the Paris Olympics through injury.

“I’ve come to realise that with cancer, you can just be unlucky. I’m just really bloody unlucky. So I walked out of that appointment with Máire [her sister] and Thomas [her future husband] and we all had tears in our eyes. I was like, ‘Well, do you know what? If I’m gonna ****king die, I’m going on that adventure’.”

On receiving her cancer prognosis.

“We got engaged on New Year’s Eve, and everyone keeps asking about a date. I would sooner plan an altitude training camp. I have no clue. But I feel very lucky in life to have a partner who is as invested in your goals as much as you are, sometimes he’s even more invested, holds me up.”

On the man she married last month, Thomas Moran.

“I can’t help but think, ‘The poor lad’s going to be left a widower in his 30s.’ I say to him, ‘here, you can’t move on from me too fast …’.”

On her word of warning for Thomas.

“You need to stop and smell the roses, because this doesn’t last forever. Relish those moments – that might be in your garden with your kids and you just think, ‘there’s nowhere I’d rather be’. We need to celebrate the joys in life, and we need to verbalise them a lot more. I think all of us need to take a moment and smell the roses and think, ‘okay, there’s good stuff to celebrate in life’.”

On cherishing every living moment.

“I would prefer to not have to be as resilient as I have been throughout my life, but it’s something that’s served me well. I’m not going to let that fear, anger and sadness be the overwhelming emotion because if I did, it would take away from whatever joy can be there. I have faith in people and I have faith in kindness. Sharing that little bit of hope with each other and that you’re in each other’s thoughts is a beautiful thing to do. I’m so grateful for everybody who’s done that for me.”

On her determination to let in the light.