The decisive kick for the gold medal was suitably commanding and Ciara Mageean made absolutely sure she was the one to deliver it, ripping to the front down the homestretch to win the European Championship 1,500m inside the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday night.
It was another thrilling performance by the Irish athlete, Mageean stamping her absolute authority on the field, affording herself a suitably delightful winning salute on the line.
Because few if any championships finals are more consistently intriguing tactical affairs than these three and three-quarter lap showdowns, and this one was no exception, Mageean producing an absolute masterclass to hit the front only when it mattered most, winning in 4:04.66 seconds ahead of Britain’s Georgia Bell, second in 4:05.33.
So, exactly 48 hours after the mixed 4x400m relay team of Chris O’Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley became only the second gold medal winners for Ireland in the now 90-year history of these European Athletics Championships – after Sonia O’Sullivan – Mageean now joins that super-elite list.
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The race started slow and utterly bunched, 67.7 seconds at 400m, with Britain’s Jemma Reekie taking control in front, and still there at 800m, passed in 2:16. At that point Reekie was still slightly ahead of her teammate Bell, with Mageean sitting patiently in third.
It stayed that way at the bell, the British duo kicking hard down the backstretch, while Mageean still bided her time.
Then around the final bend and into the homestretch, Mageean turned on her considerable style, dashing past the British duo. Agathe Guillemot emerged as a danger at that stage, coming through to take third, with Reekie fading to fifth in 4:06.17.
After the race Mageean said: “I knew I had it in my legs, I was like, ‘I’m feeling good, I’m feeling good.’ It often opens up and I was telling myself not to panic. The gap was going to come and I made sure when it was 100 metres to go I saw a little bit of light and I was like, I’m going to take it.”
“I don’t feel like I’m the polished item out there yet, it’s only the beginning of the season. I had a rocky month coming into this but it’s a lesson in life: not everything can be perfect.”
“And look around this stadium and there’s always tricolours. To know these people are spending their hard-earned cash to come here and cheer us on and knowing how much it means to them, it fills my heart with joy.”
The Down woman had made no secret of her ambition to step on top of the medal podium here in Rome. She also knew already exactly what was required to battle onto that medal podium on this stage, the 32-year-old vastly experienced over the three and three-quarter lap distance, winning silver two years ago in Munich, and bronze back in 2016; she also knew what it’s like to miss out, finishing in fourth place back in 2018 behind Britain’s Laura Muir.
Mageean had also finished fourth in the World Championships final in Budapest last August.
Though Muir, the champion from Munich, by-passed these championships in Rome, Mageean still had that trio of British runners to beat, Reekie chief among them, who had won Mageean’s heat in 4:06.68 inside the Stadio Olimpico on Friday morning.
However, with her best of 3:55.87, the Irish record set last September, Mageean was by that standard the fastest and also the most experienced of the 13-woman final; and just as she proved when qualifying too, she had the nerve of steel the win out over whatever her rivals could throw at her.
It was also a first senior championship final for the 23-year-old Sarah Healy, and she finished seventh in 4:06.77, staying close on those opening laps too and running a fine race on the night.
Still, a clear part of the challenge for Mageean was how to deal with that finishing speed of Reekie, the 26-year-old already winning 800m silver at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow in March, and recently winning an 800m in Stockholm in 1:57.79.
However, the Portaferry native had also improved her 800m best last month to 1:58.81, and clearly had that speed in her legs coming into the straight.
Mageean also boasts a European Indoor bronze from Glasgow in 2019, a Commonwealth Games silver for Northern Ireland from 2022, and a World Under-20 Championships silver from back in 2010 – all over the 1,500m distance, making her the second most decorated Irish distance runner of all time behind Sonia O’Sullivan.
“I feel like I’m coming into this championship as a favourite, which is something I’ve probably never been before,” Mageean said beforehand. “That comes with some added pressure, but not as much pressure as I put on myself and it would be an absolute dream to hear Amhrán na bhFiann blasting around that stadium.”
That dream will now be realised, Mageean’s gold medal win adding to an already memorable championships in Rome. And things are far from finished yet.
