CIARA MAGEEAN HAS addressed her eleventh-hour withdrawal from the 2024 Olympic Games for the first time, saying it was “one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made in my life.” 

Mageean withdrew from her heat in the 1500m in Paris on the eve of the race, having failed to recover from an achilles injury. It was a brutal disappointment for Mageean, having won gold at the European Championship weeks earlier in June. It also continued her dreadful fortune at the Olympic Games: she ran at the Tokyo Games having torn her calf in the build-up, and thus was clearly hampered and failed to qualify from her heat. 

In Paris, however, she was unable to recover in time to take the line, as she was unsure whether she would even be able to finish the race. 

“Unfortunately for me it has ended in heartbreak”, Mageean said while choking back tears on “The Energy Behind Team Ireland”, which airs on Virgin Media One tonight. 

“It’s hard to come to terms with, that this is how this Olympic journey is coming to an end. 

“It’s so hard, because for everybody else, the Olympics is one week. But for me this is an entire cycle, an entire career.

“Since having to make the decision that I wouldn’t toe the line, which was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made in my life…I’ve cried, I’ve felt as empty as I’ve ever felt.

“Sometimes not just feeling sad, just completely empty, of every thought. All of my work has gone into this…and I just didn’t have the chance to show the shape I’m in or the grit I wanted to show out there. 

“I will put any part of my body on the line for that Irish vest, for the tricolour. Unfortunately, this time around, it was too much and I couldn’t. And it breaks my heart, because I would do anything to toe that line.

“Doing some strides the day before, I just couldn’t. I was running on one foot, on one leg. And I knew I wouldn’t do myself or my country justice toeing the line, and to be honest for the first time doubted that I’d actually be able to complete the race.

“With the guidance of the medical staff and their advice, I knew they were very much looking out for me – I was fighting all the advice to still be out there. But I knew that as tough as the decision was, it was the right one not to step out because my dream is of an Olympic medal. I knew I could be in that final this year. Having finished fourth in the Worlds last year, my aim was to be up there fighting for a medal. Like it always is, but for once it was a real close realisation that it could be. 

“To come so close and for something to take over and for it not to be able to happen has crushed me. I am very lucky to have amazing people around me. The support I have is just phenomenal. The support from home, the entire nation, is amazing. 

Mageean, now 32, says she is not finished yet, and is targeting the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. 

“This isn’t the end for me”, she said. “It’s the end of one chapter.” 

‘The Energy Behind Team Ireland’ airs at 8:30pm Thursday on Virgin Media One and will be available anytime on Virgin Media Play