World athletics mourns as Ireland’s 2024 European 1500m champion Ciara Mageean passed away

World Athletics has expressed profound sorrow following the death of Ireland’s 2024 European 1500m champion Ciara Mageean, who passed away on Sunday at the age of 34. The two-time Olympian, who served as an inspiration both on and off the track, had shared her cancer diagnosis publicly in July 2025. A statement released on her social media channels on Sunday morning confirmed her passing, stating that she died peacefully surrounded by her loved ones, describing her as a beloved daughter, sister, wife, friend, and a profound inspiration.

Mageean leaves behind a historic legacy in Irish athletics. In 2024, she captured the European 1500m gold medal in Rome, joining Sonia O’Sullivan as one of the only Irish athletes to ever win an individual European crown. Her distinguished international career also included a European silver in 2022, a European bronze in 2016, and a European indoor bronze in 2019.

On the global stage, Mageean earned a fourth-place finish at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest and represented Ireland at both the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Though she qualified for the 2024 Paris Games, an untimely injury prevented her from competing.

Her talent was evident from her youth, capturing world U18 silver in the 800m in 2009 and world U20 silver in the 1500m in 2010—the same year she reached the 1500m final at the Commonwealth Games at just 18 years old. She later secured a Commonwealth Games silver medal in Birmingham in 2022.

Mageean concluded her competitive career in 2024, leaving an indelible mark on the sport as the current Irish national record-holder across four distances: the 800m (1:58.51), 1000m (2:31.06), 1500m (3:55.87), and the mile (4:14.58).

“It is with great sadness that we learned of Ciara’s passing this morning at such a young age. A European champion and inspiration to many, it is a sad day for our sport – her loss will be felt across the athletics community. On behalf of everyone at World Athletics and the wider athletics family, I send our sincere condolences to Ciara’s family and loved ones”, said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.