Singlet minded
Irish vest is the x-factor that helps Mageean thrive on big stage
CIARA Mageean will line up against some of the best female middle-distance runners in history this summer, but she believes she has a superpower that could propel her to Olympic glory – the Irish singlet.
The amiable Portaferry native was in typically chatty mood yesterday as she sat down with journalists after Flogas were announced as the official energy partner of Team Ireland for Paris. Everything was discussed — her Parkrun world record in Belfast at Christmas and the hamstring injury from it that curtailed her indoor season, to running an Irish record to finish fourth in last summer’s World Championship final and how she tries to switch off from her rivals’ social media during the season.
And Mageean explained how the power of the Irish vest gives her belief when she lines up alongside the likes of Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon or Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands.
‘It’s hard to ignore how stacked the 1,500m is. These girls are my friends too, so you notice when they’re racing well. I have got to the stage of my career where I enjoy seeing other people do well even in my event, because I know how hard it is,’ she points out.
‘But at my age (she turns 32 next week) I have only a handful of seasons left so I do tend to pull back a bit on social media. I’ll not unfollow, but I will mute some fellow competitors during the season because I don’t necessarily need to see if they just had a really good session or spectacular time.
‘You control the controllables and I fancy myself as a championship performer. I quite like going out there on the big stage. I feel my Irish vest is a special weapon for me, it’s like a superpower,’ she says, when reflecting on how she was able to run a national record of 3.56 in last year’s world final, just 0.6 of a second outside the medals.
She followed up that performance by breaking her own national record a few weeks later at the Diamond League final. As she pointed out, Mageean thrives on the big stage and she feels that is down to representing her country, which was the main reason she pursued athletics, rather than play inter-county camogie for Down.
‘For me, it (the power of the singlet) has always been there.
The only reason I gave up camogie and stuck with athletics is because I could run for Ireland. Seeing the tricolour raised and hearing Amhrán na bhFiann ring around the stadium is everything I do it for.
‘I genuinely believe when I step onto the track I am running for Ireland, and it is the reason I run. I don’t run to be a professional athlete. I am fortunate it is my job right now, but if I was doing it for free I would still be out there running for Ireland, because I just love it.
‘To represent your nation at the highest level is such an honour. For me the vest has always had that special power, and it always will. Which makes it hard when I’m donating some away, there are certain vests I feel are special and I need to keep for a wall at home. They are hardearned, and the medals are extremely tough to get. I come home to Portaferry, and the sheer joy, no matter how I perform, that it brings my hometown, and the joy it brings to everyone around Ireland, it just lifts you. It’s a special thing.’
As a more mature athlete, Mageean is pragmatic when she looks ahead to Paris. She would love to be on the podium, with the tricolour raised, but if her best is not quite good enough — like in Budapest last summer — she can live with that.
‘As an older athlete, I have more of a sensible head on me now. There is still a lot of pressure and I have to cope with that. But there is a joy to being able to do my sport and there is a joy to being able to go out and do my best. And if the best I can get out of my body is just short of a medal, I have to be okay with that. It is a weight off your shoulders if all you know is that you can do your best and if it is not enough, there is nothing more I could have done.’
Mageean is just coming back to fitness after a hamstring injury hobbled her indoor season. She picked it up in Belfast two days before Christmas, when breaking the Parkrun world record and the problem just got worse at a training camp in Flagstaff. However, given she had to sit out last year’s indoor season because of a torn tendon, and then ended up finishing fourth in the world and being named Irish athlete of the year, it is not a bad omen ahead of an Olympic season.
‘Yeah, so it’s not bad, is it? I had a good summer last year, so maybe if I just follow the exact same trend… I would have rather to not tweak a hamstring but I’m back training now. The only thing I’m feeling is that I’m not as fit as I’d like to be, that’s a good place. But the hamstring is feeling great, touch wood!’
Mageean had originally planned to run the 3,000m at last weekend’s World Indoors in Glasgow, given its proximity to Manchester, where she calls home. But it wasn’t to be.
Bigger days lie ahead for Mageean this year, though. And with the power of the Irish vest, she will believe anything is possible.
“Running for Ireland is the reason that I run”