The moment Ciara Mageean smiled coming onto the final bend in her 1500m European Championships final, her father Christopher was convinced she would claim gold.
The Portaferry native finished superbly after a tactical final in Rome, bursting through a gap between Great Britain athletes Jemma Reekie and Georgia Bell to power down the home straight and collect her third European medal, but her first gold to go along with bronze (2016) and silver in Munich two years ago.
Mageean won in a time of 4:04.66 to add to European golds claimed by Sonia O'Sullivan and the mixed relay team of Tom Barr, Rhasidat Adeleke, Sharlene Mawdsley and Chris O’Donnell earlier this week.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Conor Macauley in Portaferry today, Mageean’s parents expressed their unbridled joy at the incredible feat.
Her father Christopher said her camogie background, referenced by Ciara in her post-race interview, was a key part to her resilient finish in Rome – "she has that edge, she’s always had it" – but insisted the key moment came on the final bend.
Gold 🥇 for Ciara Mageean in the women's 1500m final!!!☘️ #Roma2024
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 9, 2024
📺 Watch on @RTE2 & @RTEplayer pic.twitter.com/u9agcdv6MP
"I missed the first couple of laps because it was that intense," he said. "When she turned the corner, I could see Ciara sort of smiled a wee bit, I said to myself, 'here we go’.
"The finish that she has in her legs. When she moved, Catherine and I just got up. We started shouting, encouraging her as best we could from Portaferry.
"She took it on and she took gold. It’s what we’ve been looking for these past 15 years.
"She’s always wanted the gold. She’s had silver and bronze, and now we have the gold in Portaferry. We’ll take that."
His wife Catherine said the determination to get through the gap, when she appeared to be boxed in by the British athletes for a significant portion of the race, was also borne on the GAA pitch.
"When you watch the replay you can actually see, when she sees the gap open up, she breathes out, takes a big sigh in, and she just goes for it," she said. "As if she was going for goal with a hurl and a ball.
"That’s exactly what she was like. I thought that’s it, no-one is catching her. All you could see was the dust of her heels.
"It’s brilliant."
Watch the European Athletics Championships from Monday to Wednesday with coverage on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
