Suffering from cancer, former European 1,500m champion Ciara Mageean dies at the age of 34

The world of athletics is in mourning. Irish athlete Ciara Mageean, crowned European 1,500m champion in 2024, died on Sunday from intestinal cancer at the age of 34. “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. She had even written a book about her fight against illness - “My greatest race” - published in the summer of 2026.

“A fighter on and off the track”

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