Injury rules Ireland’s Mageean out of Olympics

Ciara Mageean has been ruled out of the Olympics with an Achilles injury.

The Team Ireland athlete’s withdrawal was announced on the eve of her scheduled participation in Tuesday’s women’s 1500m heats in Paris.

Mageean, 32, said: “I’m absolutely heartbroken not to be able to compete in my third Olympic Games.

“I gave it everything to make it possible to be on the start line, but time was against me. I want to thank everyone for all their support.”

A statement released by Team Ireland on Monday evening read: “In her final weeks of preparation for these Paris Olympic Games Ciara has been dealing with painful chronic Achilles issues.

“Despite every effort made by Ciara and the Team Ireland medical team, the European champion will unfortunately be unable to toe the line tomorrow [Tuesday] morning.”

Mageean was fourth in last year’s World Championships and won the 1500m event at the European Championships in June.

However, her last outing over 2000m in Monaco on 12 July gave some cause for concern as she tailed off last.

She represented Team Ireland at both the 2016 Olympics in Rio and the Tokyo Olympics, which were staged in 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Analysis by BBC Sport NI’s Andy Gray in Paris:

“On the eve of her heats, Ciara Mageean’s withdrawal is the latest in a number of Olympic heartbreaks for the county Down athlete.

Despite her success in other major events, Mageean had yet to reach a final in her previous two Games – she didn’t make it out of the heats in Tokyo after injuring her calf a week before racing.

However, she was heading to Paris after winning the European Championships in June, with dreams of putting things right on the sport’s biggest stage.

Speaking to her mother, Catherine, before coming to Paris, you could sense the excitement for the entire family in what could be a final Olympics for the 32-year-old.

Or, in true Mageean fashion when she has had to dig deep after injuries in the past – she could press on and use it as fuel for a last hurrah in Los Angeles.

It is also particularly cruel given the multiple successes for athletes from Northern Ireland and Team Ireland so far in Paris.

While she would have been going in a stacked 1500 metre field, Mageean deserved to ride that wave of success in Paris after being a trailblazer for so long.