Before her running career was cruelly cut short, Ciara Mageean managed to break the Irish record for the 800 metres, 1000 metres, 1500 metres, and the mile; all records that had previously been held by Sonia O’Sullivan.
But in a life absurdly extinguished by bowel cancer at the age of 34, Mageean is remembered as having “grace, wit and a fundamental beauty of the soul” by Irish Times sports writer Malachy Clerkin.
“You can kind of assume that people know, just take it for granted that she was this amazing athlete. And because the force of her personality and the sort of the special human that she was, [that] kind of takes precedence.”
Clerkin tells the In the News podcast that Mageean was an outlier in every sense. Not just because of her athletic prowess, but in her mindset, her compassion for other people, and sadly in the fact she had almost none of the known risk factors for bowel cancer.
“She has no family history. She was an incredibly fit and healthy human being. Her diet was - like she had a nutritionist for over a decade.”
Mageean died on Sunday morning surrounded by family and friends. She is survived by her husband Thomas Moran, who she married in October and who’s wedding they celebrated just a week before her death.
You can listen to the conversation on the player above or search for In the News wherever you get your podcasts.
Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Produced by John Casey.
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