Irish athlete Ciara Mageean dies of cancer aged 34

Irish middle distance runner Ciara Mageean, the European 1500m champion and two-time Olympian, has died aged 34 after a battle with cancer.

Mageana’s death was announced in a statement on her social media accounts on Sunday. The athlete revealed in July 2025 that she was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer.

“At 6:30 this morning, Ciara lost her battle with cancer surrounded by her loved ones,” the statement read.

“Beloved daughter, sister, wife, friend and inspiration to so many, she will be deeply missed.”

This is how we will remember Ciara. He never ever gave up. Conor O’Neill (@conoro) November 1, 2026

Mageean has been one of Ireland’s most successful middle distance runners, the biggest moment of her career coming at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome where she won gold in the women’s 1500m.

She represented Ireland at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She was also due to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but was forced to withdraw the day before the opening run due to an Achilles injury.

In addition to the European title, Mageean won bronze in the 1,500 meters at the 2016 European Championships and silver in 2022. She won a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Her death comes just over a year after she publicly shared the news of her cancer diagnosis, sparking tributes from across the athletics community.

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