Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
IT’S DRIVING ME SON
Mageean admits using her hero O’sullivan’s records for inspiration
CIARA MAGEEAN’S desire to chase down Sonia O’sullivan’s records is key to her dream of competing on the world stage.
She recently broke the legendary Irish athlete’s longstanding national records in the 800m and the 1000m.
Then followed by her own admission a rare “off day” as she came a disappointing 12th in Sunday’s 1500m Diamond League run in Stockholm.
High expectations of her beating a third O’sullivan record in five weeks fell by the wayside but Portaferry flyer Mageean predicts she will soon break that magic fourminute barrier. “I was probably on such a high, I didn’t realise quite how much the two previous runs could take out physically – running the fastest times I’ve ever ran – and emotionally,” she explained.
“Usually I’d have said I can completely rely on my form. This is a big lesson because I’ve had such fantastic form over the last two years, particularly since moving to my coach Steve Vernon in Manchester.”
But ultimately it’s about getting it right for the Tokyo Olympics. “Nothing happens by accident in this sport, certainly not for me,” she stressed, adding that breaking that 800m record in Bern was particularly exciting.
“Something special,” she confessed, though initially she fretted that organisers would round up her time of 1.59.69 to over two minutes.
“I didn’t really celebrate, I wasn’t taking anything to chance. That was a massive moment in my career. That barrier has been there for me for a long time. Those two performances have really stamped my place in worldclass Irish athletics and world-class athletics. I’m delighted. That was one of life’s little ambitions ticked. Now I want to go faster.”
Mageean, 28, believes she truly belongs on that world stage now.
“Often you might have that sense inside but you can only really justify it from the performances you’ve done,” she said. “Up to that point they didn’t show I could be top five in the world, though I believed I could.
“It sets the cat among the pigeons with some athletes. They realise,
‘Ciara is a threat, we can’t take her for granted any more’. It reassured me I can be up there competing with the best.”
O’sullivan, now
50, remains a hero. She admitted: “I see Sonia as a huge inspiration, to know that an Irishwoman was competing with the best in the world and was a force to reckon with. I want to be in that position as well. She forged the path and I’m trying to follow her footsteps.”