Welcome back Ciara

Welcome back Ciara

27 September 2023

PORTAFERRY athletic sensation Ciara Mageean returned home to a rapturous welcome last Sunday for the first time since her record-breaking World Athletics Championship performance.

Hundreds of people lined the streets of the village while a special reception was held in the community centre.

Ciara came fourth in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August, breaking her own 1,500m Irish record. She broke it again at a Diamond League meeting in Brussels two weeks ago.

The 31 year-old also broke Sonia O’Sullivan’s 3:58.85 record which had stood for 27 years and she set another record when she ran a 3:55.87 to 

take second behind Scotland’s Laura Muir at the Brussels Diamond League meeting.

“I gave it everything,” Ciara said. “I certainly came into these championships with the aim to stand on the podium. I fell slightly short but I have to walk away with my head held high.”

She continued: “I gave it everything out on the track. There’s not much more you can do.”

On Friday evening, Ciara described on RTE’s The Late Late Show now hosted by Dundrum’s Patrick Kielty how tough it was to part ways with the late and legendary coach Jerry Kiernan who sadly died in January 2021.

She left Jerry’s team when moving to Manchester to become a full-time professional.

“Hands down it was harder leaving Jerry,” said Ciara. “You’re on to something now because I always cry when I speak about Jerry.

“For me to leave the set-up in Dublin and go and train professionally in Manchester was something I couldn’t pass up.”

Ciara added: “Leaving Jerry as my coach was the hardest thing I’d ever done.”