Ciara Mageean: Irish athlete ‘very motivated’ to compete in 2028 LA Olympics

Mageean’s enforced withdrawal was the latest chapter in a number of Olympic heartbreaks for the athlete from the town of Portaferry in Northern Ireland.

The county Down woman narrowly missed out on a place in the final of her event in 2016 and a calf injury a week ahead of her heat in the delayed Tokyo Games saw her eliminated at the first time of asking.

This year, she won the 1500m at the European Championships in Rome in June, but had struggled for form in the Diamond League events in Monaco and Paris in the build-up to the Games.

“I’ve been managing an ankle issue for years, this is not a new occurrence for me,” explained Mageean.

“For the past eight years I’ve been dealing with pain in my right ankle that ranges from being slightly uncomfortable when I’m going about my day-to-day activities to actually not being able to physically run and sitting on the stairs contemplating if I can continue, if I need to retire from the sport.

“It’s always been about micro-managing around my ankle and the summer was going well, the European Champs was obviously phenomenal and I was delighted to finally get that gold medal.”

Preparations for the Olympics subsequently progressed, until persistent pain in her ankle after a training session two weeks before the Games led to the difficult decision to withdraw from Paris 2024.

“I had two injections into the ankle, into different aspects to see if we could settle down the pain and unfortunately it didn’t which resulted in me having to make the decision the day before I was going to commence my third Olympic Games that I’d have to withdraw.

“It was absolutely heartbreaking and devastating to have to make that decision. The fact I didn’t know I’d be able to make it through the race was the main factor. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do myself justice out there.”