Cathal Dennehy: The race that defines Mageean will never make the highlight reel

Maybe it’d be the world U18 silver medal in 2009 or world U20 silver in 2010, both of which flagged up a talent of truly world-class proportions. Or maybe you’d fast forward through all the ups and downs to that fantastic fourth-place finish in last year’s world final.

But no. For me, the race that defines Mageean is one that’ll never make the highlights reel. It was at the Oslo Diamond League last year. Mageean went there in fine form, having broken the Irish 800m record just weeks before. But on the lead-up, she’d overcooked it just a smidge in training and that adage in athletics – that it’s better to be 10% undertrained than 1% overtrained – was seen in full effect.

She went out with the leaders but on the third lap, her legs appeared full of lead, Mageean fading through the field. With a lap to run, she was alone, detached at the back. Now, there was a previous version of Mageean who, at that point, might have considered stepping off the track. No matter what she did, the race was going to be a bad one. But instead, she dug in, plugged her finger in the dam and didn’t let that gap grow any bigger. Then slowly, steadily, she lifted the pace. Around the final turn, she regained contact with the field and overtook an athlete before fighting with every fibre of her being to catch another. She didn’t, in the end, coming home 10th in a mediocre 4:22.03.

We met in the mixed zone after the race and Mageean was upbeat. “I’m happy I kept my head,” she said. “It’s about going out there and battling all the way. I live to fight another day.” 

Sure enough, a few weeks later she smashed the Irish mile record in Monaco, clocking 4:14.58, before unleashing the best run of her life in that world final in Budapest. But the thing that stood out in Oslo? The way she’d reacted when things had gone awry. In a situation where most athletes would have checked out mentally, coasted home, she emptied the tank to salvage some pride, fighting for 10th like it was an Olympic medal. Yes, it was a D-level run, but she did everything in her power to stop it becoming an F.

It was a small, defiant act of resilience in a career that’s been defined by it. This year more than ever. After all, few had their heart ripped out in such cruel fashion at the Paris Olympics quite like Mageean. It’s one thing getting to the Games and underperforming. It’s another to get there and not be able to perform at all.

She’d been through the meat grinder of the Games twice before. In 2016 she was hoping to make the 1500m final but got spat out the back in her semi-final, finishing 11th and apologising (unnecessarily) to those at home. Then in Tokyo in 2021, she tore her calf eight days before her 1500m heat. She went to the line regardless, trailing home 10th.

In 2024, it looked like her Olympic fortune was about to turn. Mageean started the summer in spectacular fashion, kicking to European 1500m gold in Rome in June, finally realising her dream of hearing Amhrán na bhFiann at a major championship.

In the mixed zone after, she wasn’t like many other champions who were basking in their achievements. Mageean was keen to get the hell out of there – to cool down and kickstart the recovery process. There would be no celebrations, only a swift return to her altitude camp to finalise preparations for Paris. European gold was great, but it was only seen as a pitstop.

But then the wheels fell off. A bout of fatigue forced her to miss nationals. Then she tweaked her Achilles tendon just before travelling to France. That flicker of pain soon mushroomed into a wildfire and the day before her 1500m heat, she made the toughest decision of her career, withdrawing from the Olympics. The fact Britain’s Georgia Bell, who Mageean beat in the European final, won Olympic bronze added insult to injury.

Sitting at a Parisian café, with tears in her eyes, Mageean told Virgin Media Sport she was as “empty” as she’d ever felt. “All of my work has gone into this, and I just didn’t even have the chance to show the shape that I was in. It breaks my heart because I would give anything to toe that line.” 

But after crying a river of tears, it was soon time to move forward. Mageean underwent surgery in September to correct the issue in her ankle that left her running in pain for many years and while it’ll be another few months before she’s back training properly, every day edges her closer to that point. Change is afoot. Mageean has left her longtime base in Manchester and will be based in Belfast going forward, steering her own ship as she looks to 2025 and beyond.

She’s 32 now, in an age bracket where most 1500m runners start to slow down. But Mageean’s trajectory has long differed from the norm, her training years much lower than most athletes her age due to chronic injuries in her early 20s. Granted a clean bill of health, there’s no reason she can’t be just as good or better in the years to come.

But being at her peak for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles is a tough ask. Mageean will be 36 then. The average age of the women’s 1500m finalists in Paris was 27. The oldest was 31. Still, Nick Willis won an Olympic 1500m medal in Rio at the age of 33. Kelly Holmes, who like Mageean was blighted by injury in her 20s, won the Olympic 800m-1500m double in Athens at 34. Mageean has walked this path before. She knows there’s a whole lot of distance left to run, and many more medals that can be won.

“I’m in a good place now,” she told Off The Ball at the national athletics awards this week, where she was crowned middle-distance athlete of the year. “I’m excited for the next chapter, to learn from the things that happened and to drive towards the next Olympic cycle. I have my sights firmly set on the world champs next year and another four-year cycle to LA. As much as I was heartbroken (in Paris), I have plenty of fire in my belly.” 

She has all she needs to climb back to where she was. Talent. Experience. A world-class support team. But most of all, Mageean has an almost unfathomable level of resilience. Just as she showed in that race in Oslo, she can keep her head amid a raging storm, absorb a barrage of sucker punches and walk right back to the centre of the ring, ready to once again fight the good fight. Few do it better.