Ciara Mageean is getting ready to do battle with the best middle-distance runners on the globe at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest this weekend and she's doing it in full belief that all is, thankfully, exactly as it seems in the star-studded 1500m division.
Mageean has had a front-row seat for Faith Kipyegon’s record-breaking 2023 season with the Kenyan racing home all alone ahead of the pack in Florence two months ago to knock almost a full second off the world mark for 1500m which had been set by Genzebe Dibaba back in 2015.
Kipyegon was embraced warmly by her vanquished competitors after the finish line, Mageean included, but, athletics being what it is and history being history, there will always be questions about whether or not we actually can believe our eyes when we witness these earth-scorching showings.
Mageean is confident, however, that Kipyegon’s exploits are something that the sport can be proud of and that her achievements will stand the test of time and, more importantly, the scrutiny of the sport’s Athlete Integrity Unit.
"It’s a pretty tough question. You’re being asked if you believe somebody is clean or not," Mageean admitted. "It is hard. As an athlete, I’m in my own path and witnessing Faith’s world record this year has been just phenomenal. I feel very lucky just to be part of a really lovely women’s 1500m field. I actually don’t know if any of the other fields in athletics are like this."
The team spirit among the middle-distance fraternity is certainly unmistakable. Pictures of a beaming Kipyegon surrounded by her seemingly equally delighted competitors were plentiful after her Florence demolition job. Mageean seems energised by the ultra-supportive atmosphere.
"We’re all just a really sound bunch," the Portaferry runner said. "Everybody is really genuinely invested in once another. Whenever we’re around each other at the Diamond Leagues, we have food together etc. I feel like that’s quite unusual, it’s lovely to see and I’ve really enjoyed being part of that.
"To go out to Florence and see the 1500m record tumble, to be witness to that – even if I was up on the other bend, she was flying ahead of us all. That was really special and to be able to witness a part of athletics, on the track, I was able to be there when the record fell.
"Faith is an absolutely fantastic woman. She’s a great competitor to compete against and, off the field, she’s just so lovely. You wouldn’t meet a nicer athlete. She’ll congratulate you after all of your performances.
"I’ve raced against Faith for a lot of years now, been in awe of her knowledge of our sport – I came off [in Monaco] with a new National record, which I which I would not have expected her to know, and she shook my hand and congratulated me on that.
"So, I’m more than delighted for her to cross the line and me be able to give her an embrace and say you are possibly the greatest of all time and it’s an absolute privilege to toe the line with you.
"And equally with the rest of the girls. That race in Monaco where national records fell all over, the sheer delight that we all had that we were all part of the fastest women’s Mile race there’s ever been, you have to just embrace the moment and be happy.
"I’m delighted with how I’m performing this season. That’s all I can hang my hat on and I’m very excited about what’s ahead."
The Athlete Integrity Unit (AIU) seems the main reason that Mageean is confident her peers are shooting straight dice. Could the testing systems finally be catching up with those who choose to bend and break the rules when it comes to just what an athlete could and should put in their body?
"In fairness to the AIU, they’re doing a great job," Mageean reckoned. "They’re trying to be at the forefront of clamping down on issues in our sport that all of the athletes want to be squashed out. I’ve been on the AIU testing for two years now. I was always on the Irish system but my performances have deemed be capable of being on the AIU testing, so that’s a privilege that you’ve reached the stage where they want to test you!
"Having chatted to the people on the education side of the AIU system, I’ve realised that, in the Irish system, we’re very well educated. The Irish Sports Council do a fantastic job of educating us as athletes about processes that we have to go through, about the integrity that we should have and really what we should expect in the world of elite sport.
"Other countries maybe don’t do as well as Ireland do with regards to educating their athletes so the AIU are really trying to reach out on that front and educate athletes too, which I think is really important.
"I feel they’re certainly making a difference and I’m glad to see it. There’ll be much more changes happening in the future. It’s the nature of sport that some people will want to cheat and I don’t think you can ever completely eliminate that unfortunately."
Mageean is enjoying an excellent season in her own right. After kicking off her campaign with a fine fourth-placed finish on Kipyegon's record-breaking night, she would then finally smash Sonia O'Sullivan's long-standing Irish Mile record in Monaco last month.
"I’m glad to see [the AIU] making some big changes and me, as a clean athlete, I’m delighted that they’re doing that. I think athletes have to be held accountable for their actions," Mageean added.
"It’s the tough side of our sport. We always prefer to focus on the good side. In athletics, I feel that we are a very human sport in that we hold people accountable for that. There’s nothing swept under the rug. We hold athletes accountable whenever they bring our sport into disrepute. I’m glad to see the AIU working on our behalf."
