Medal chasing Mageean remains at ease with missing World Championships

Mageean opted against competing in Oregon to focus her efforts on last week’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and next week’s Europeans in Munich

AT HER EASE: Scotland's Laura Muir (right) and Northern Ireland's Ciara Mageean (centre) during the Women's 1500m Round 1 Heat 1 at Alexander Stadium. Photo: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.

It was one of the toughest decisions of Ciara Mageean’s career. In 2019 she’d made the world 1500m final in Doha, so it made perfect sense for her to target last month’s World Championships in Oregon – the biggest event of the athletics year.

But last autumn, when she and then-coach Steve Vernon sat down to plot out this summer, she chose not to go. There was method in what seemed, to some, like madness. After all, Mageean had two other championships coming right after, with last week’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and next week’s Europeans in Munich offering gilt-edged medal opportunities, the kind that looked out of reach in Oregon.