Ciara Mageean, a two-time Olympian, has dedicated her life to becoming a world class athlete. Despite her remarkable ability on the track, she has learnt that her identity extends far beyond her athletes achievements. This is a valuable life lesson that her late coach, Jerry Kiernan, imparted to Ciara.
“He taught me that I’m much more than just a runner, and that the value was there for me as Ciara,” she says, speaking in her episode of the Flogas “The Energy Behind” docuseries.
Ciara is also keen to note that her significant achievements don't happen in isolation. They have been made possible with the help and support of a team of people around her, she has been sculpted by her family, coaches, her partner, and broader community, each making their own unique athlete she is today.
With that, the documentary lets you in behind the curtain on the life of the Portaferry woman, spanning the length and breadth of the country from Cork to her beloved Down, and beyond to Manchester in the UK.
You see, from a young age, Mageean was pinned with the tag of being “the next Sonia”, a fitting tribute to the mega stature of the woman whose footsteps she was following in, in that she didn’t even need to be addressed by her second name.
“People would have seen that as a pressure, but it was a huge honour,” the three-time European 1500m medallist says.
And while O’Sullivan may have paved the way for middle distance runners and even female athletes more broadly in Ireland, and has the immortalisation of a statue to prove it, Mageean is forging her own path on that journey now, and doing a fine good job of it too.
Her family fostered an environment that aided that process, and watching her mum Catherine and her dad Chris in the episode, it’s clear to see why she’s flourished along the way.
As Mageean herself puts it, “they just wanted to see us go out and have fun…they didn’t force us into [athletics] but they gave us every chance.”
Having moved to Manchester in 2017, Mageean still feels a strong and persistent longing for home, but she does take solace in the fact that she seems to cultivate more family wherever she goes.
Her teammates, coach Helen Clitheroe and her partner Thomas Moran do more than just hold the fort there, but rather push her on to be the very best she can be.
“None of the rest of my coaches (a) raced 1,500m or (b) were female,” Mageean says, in reference to her work with Clitheroe, who herself was a European champion and a Commonwealth Games Bronze medallist back when she was competing.
“I guess I feel like I have something to give her that’s unique with that experience because I know exactly what it’s like,” Clitheroe says, “there are things that are hard to explain to people who perhaps haven’t lived it.”
The work that the duo do builds on those who laid the foundation before, like Kiernan, who, as Mageean describes, “was so much more than a coach.”
🗣️ “Quite often sport is a very male dominated area and there’s no need for it…we have so much to bring to the table”
🙌 @ciaramageean speaking straight facts 🙌
She spoke with us at a @FlogasIreland ‘Energy Behind the Athletes‘ Olympic event today. #womeninsport pic.twitter.com/KxVMsJdjOU— Her Sport (@HerSportDotIE) March 7, 2024
Accompanied by her New Balance “wolfpack”, Mageean found a support network who eased the loneliness, and that she feels could help her through anything.
“It was probably the first time I felt I truly belonged in the sport,” she says.
Pacing her both on the track and on an emotional and physical level, her partner Thomas also stabilises her sense of belonging, acting as her “rock” throughout the ups and downs of an athletics career at this elite level, as well as their own personal lives.
With the hopes of all of these people, as well as family members who have already passed, and the nation on her shoulders, Mageean continues to strive for greatness for all of those people who have “left those footprints in your heart.”
“They live on in me and the legacy that they’ve let behind. There’s only so much you can let that come into your psyche during a race because I get like this,” Mageean says emotionally, “but they’re there in the back of your mind that everything that they gave to you is making you stronger and the person you are.”
“I just want to do them proud,” she says.
With her third Olympic Games on the horizon, there’s no doubt that the 32 year old has already done just that, but, nonetheless, she’ll aspire to make more history this summer.
And who knows, maybe there’s even a statue in the making and on route to Portaferry too.
Flogas is the Energy Behind @TeamIreland ☘️@ciaramageean is following in the footsteps of her hero Sonia O'Sullivan in insoiring the next generation of Irish athletes.
Full episode - https://t.co/dRlCJI4auf#TheEnergyBehind #TeamIreland #Paris2024 🍀 @BudgetEnergy @FlogasESL pic.twitter.com/UmQIo0ONPn— Flogas (@FlogasIreland) May 2, 2024
