Ciara Mageean will head to Budapest shortly as part of the largest Irish team ever sent to the World Athletic Championships – and her message for Irish sports fans is: 'Get out and support your girls!'
The three-time European medallist heads to the Worlds in "the best shape I’ve ever been" at age 31 and will line up for her favoured 1500m against the best in the business for Saturday week’s heats. From there, she’ll be aiming to match her 2019 exploits where she overcame some blistering competition to make the final.
She steps on the plane in superb form having finally taken down Sonia O’Sullivan’s long-standing Irish Mile record in a white-hot race in Monaco a fortnight ago having served notice of her intent with an eye-catching season opener in Florence.
Mageean is clearly an athlete who takes her responsibilities off the track almost as seriously as her work between the white lines and, if medals and podium finishes remain the ultimate currency that represents success, the Portaferry woman is keenly aware of the importance of inspiring any athletes of the future who may be watching.
"I feel very lucky to be in a place that I can be role model for young girls and boys coming through," she said this week. "We as Irish people can be the best in the world and really hopefully this does have a legacy. Hopefully our media really take the bull by the horns.
"We have so many sports where it’s still not equal. I’m watching the golf and seeing Leona [Maguire] do absolutely fantastic and I want more coverage of that because I want to be able to just pick up the paper and read about it.
"We have our swimmers who have been absolutely excelling the moment and I want to see that because they’re not given as much coverage as other sports and for me, a simple message that I can say, is get behind your girls.
"If a team is out playing, get out and support them. If you have a daughter that’s interested in sport, ask her what she wants to try and encourage her. Ask her if she’s enjoying it, see if any of her friends want to join.
"There are so many little things that we can do. I personally still have a lot that I need to do. Every opportunity I get, I want to try celebrate other sportswomen. I don’t have quite as much time as I’d like, but I want to get out on the sideline and be watching them!"
The Republic of Ireland soccer team’s recent exploits at the Women’s World Cup may be a perfect example of the kind of momentum that can be achieved in a short time by an industry like athletics, with the help of some simple joined-up thinking where necessary.
Historically, female track athletes have been among Ireland’s most recognisable sports personalities. From Catherina McKiernan to O’Sullivan and Derval O’Rourke. But the sheer avalanche of exposure enjoyed by Vera Pauw’s panel from a very low starting point a couple of short years ago, could provide food for thought to Irish sporting bodies elsewhere.
"I’ve been absolutely delighted to see the women’s soccer teams given so much profile. To see the sheer amount of support behind them, that they’re welcomed home and celebrated. That’s amazing to see.
"Our media are doing so much better on that front. They’re giving women’s sport the coverage it deserves. In athletics, our female athletes have always been among the most celebrated in Irish sporting history.
"I feel really lucky to be part of the sport of athletics. In the realm of sport, athletics is a very equal playing field. My male counterparts are training the same as I’m training and there’s really no difference between us.
"On the team sport side, quite often that isn’t the case. We saw that historically with our women’s football team. So, to be able to see our football players celebrated like that is truly inspirational. To be able to see them experience that, to have that support behind them is lovely to see because these girls deserve everything they get. They’ve dedicated their lives to their sport the same way I have to mine.
On the subject of women and girls in sport, the issue of ‘retention’ is never far from the crux of the conversation. Mageean feels the sight of so many prominent Irish sportswomen in the public eye can help keep young women on the track, playing fields and courts around the country.
"We could certainly learn from that [in athletics]. There are so many things we could take from that. As a nation, we can keep growing and supporting our women in sport. I hope that this has a long-lasting legacy as Katie McCabe spoke about. The legacy that she wanted to have for young girls and young boys.
"We usually see young girls dropping out of sport at teenage level and it’s something that I feel really passionate about – women and girls staying in sport. Be that competitive sport or be that for their own health and well being.
"I hope [the Women’s World Cup] has a knock-on effect. That young girls can see that they can have a future as an elite sportsperson and that they’ll be backed by their friends and family and they’ll be backed by their nation because that makes such a big impact on the dreams of young girls."
