Athletics: Ciara Mageean, European 1500m champion in 2024, died at 34

Irish athlete Ciara Mageean, crowned European 1,500m champion in 2024, died this Sunday from intestinal cancer at the age of 34, her family announced on Instagram. “At 6:30 this morning, Ciara lost her fight against cancer, surrounded by her loved ones,” her family wrote in a statement posted on their Instagram account.

Crowned European champion in the 1,500 m in Rome ahead of the British Georgia Hunter-Bell and the French Agathe Guillemot, Ciara Mageean announced in July 2025 that she was suffering from cancer.

The athlete from Portaferry in Northern Ireland later revealed that it was advanced stage bowel cancer, and wrote a book about his fight against the disease - "My Greatest Race" - published in the summer of 2026. "The country loses a heroine", greeted the Irish Olympic Committee about the athlete who represented Ireland twice at the Olympic Games, in 2016 and 2021.

“The country loses a heroine”

She was also due to participate in the 2024 Olympics in Paris but had to withdraw on the eve of her entry due to an Achilles tendon injury. Tributes from the world of athletics have multiplied. The International Athletics Federation said it was “heartbroken by the loss of Ciara Mageean, a fighter on and off the track who gave us so many moments of celebration and who inspired so many people.”

“You were simply the most beautiful person ever, in every way. We will miss you so much,” also reacted the Australian Jessica Hull, Olympic vice-champion in the 1,500 m in 2024. “How lucky to have been able to run with you and especially to have celebrated together on the finish lines.”