BRILLIANT Ciara Mageean struck gold in the 1500m final at the European Athletics Championships in Rome on Sunday night to further boost her Paris Olympic medal hopes.
The Portaferry athlete burst through a gap between the British pair of Jemma Reekie and Georgia Bell coming into the final 100 meters, kicking for home to cross in a winning time of 4:04.66.
It’s a third European outdoor medal for Mageean after her bronze in Amsterdam in 2016 and the silver won in Munich in 2022.
Speaking after the race, Mageean said: “Words can’t even come close” was Mageean’s initial reaction when she spoke to RTÉ Sport afterwards. Everybody back home knows how long I have been doing this, how hard I have been trying. I’ve had so many times when I’ve come off races and not felt the way I am today. I went out on that track today super nervous, but I had a plan and a mission, that was to hear Amhrán na bhFiann.”
Sarah Healy also went in the race, finishing in a superb seventh place in her first senior European final in a time of 4:06.77 to offer her plenty of confidence heading into the run-in to Paris.
