We talk about athletes leaving it all out on the track.
Any time Ciara Mageean toes the line, it’s a given that in less than four minutes time, the Portaferry athlete is going to have every last fibre of her being planted into the tartan.
That was again the case on Sunday night in Glasgow and by the time she’d 1500mts covered, she was literally jaded to the point of sickness.
But this time, the tartan gave something back.
It looked for most of the last lap that it would be silver, with the prodigious Down talent lurking on the shoulder of Poland’s Sofia Ennaoui before passing her down the back straight.
Ciara Mageean has won bronze for Ireland in the European indoor 1500mts 🇮🇪
Irish distance running is on the way back! pic.twitter.com/s178gKtk7s
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 3, 2019
Ennaoui, who has before lined up in an Olympic final fought back though, and Mageean would have to make do with the bronze but that doesn’t for one second take away from the 26-year-old’s achievements.
This is her second major championship medal, earned in a stacked field and it should give her plenty of confidence to kick on going forward.
As indeed, should the run of Letterkenny’s Mark English who also won bronze in the 800 mts final an hour earlier – both athletes showing that the future of Irish middle distance running is in safe hands.
After the race, former European indoor champion David Gillick caught up with Mageean and despite her tiredness causing her to get sick at the feet of Gillick moments beforehand, her words that followed spoke volumes about her character and her ambition.
In just a three minute interview, her selflessness came to the fore as she dedicated much of it to Mark’s achievement and much to her training partners.
“I’m delighted that me and Mark showed the younger athletes that Ireland can be up there and we can be fighting…I’m lucky to be in this position and I’m so grateful to be there,” she said with a beaming smile.
Listen to the rest of her passionate interview here.
'I am very disappointed I don't have silver right now' – a delighted (if nauseous) @ciaramageean chats to @davidgillick after winning bronze in the 1500 metres #RTEsport pic.twitter.com/6yrYVBAq7n
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 3, 2019
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