Ciara Mageean crowned athlete of the year

Mageean took top honours after her superb season

Wed, 23 Nov, 2022 - 16:12

Cian Locke

Ciara Mageean was named as the Athlete of the Year at the 123.ie National Athletics Awards in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry today.

Mageean took top honours after her superb season which saw the Portaferry star claim a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in August, before going on to claim yet another major medal with a superb silver-medal-winning-performance at the European Championships in Munich.

Mageean’s season didn’t stop there, going on produce the best performance of her career to date to break Sonia O’Sullivan’s Irish 1500m record on her way to victory at the Diamond League meeting in Brussels on September 2nd (3:56.63).

The two-time Olympian carved more than two seconds off O’Sullivan’s previous record of 3:58.85 set in 1995, and it brought her home ahead of European champion and Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir of Britain.

The Irish 1500m record holder also walked away with the Track and Field Athlete of Year Award, fending off strong competition from fellow Munich medallist Mark English (Finn Valley AC), as well as Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) and Louise Shanahan (Leevale AC) who both enjoyed stellar seasons.

Rhasidat Adeleke (Tallaght AC) announced herself on the world stage with a blistering run in the final of the women's 400m at the European Championships in Munich earlier this summer, finishing fifth and setting a new Irish record. The Tallaght AC sprinter received the U23 Athlete of Year Award ahead of the exciting trio of Israel Olatunde (UCD AC), Sarah Healy (UCD AC), and Kate O’Connor (Dundalk St Gerard’s AC).

Reece Ademola (Leevale AC) was named U20 Athlete of Year following his superb 5th place finish in the men’s long jump final at the World U20 Athletics Championships in Columbia on August 2nd. Ademola produced the jump of his life to set a new national U20 long jump record of 7.83m on his way to the 5th place finish, a record he had broken a day earlier (7.76m) on his way to qualifying for the World U20 final.

The U20 award was hotly contested with nominees also including World U20 finalists Nick Griggs (Mid Ulster AC), Nicola Tuthill (Bandon AC), and Dean Casey (Ennis Track).

Meanwhile, Catherina McKiernan was a very popular inductee into the Hall of Fame for 2022. Pat Kelly (St Abban’s) was named as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient – the pinnacle volunteer award, while Alister Wilson (Midleton AC) won Outstanding Official of the Year.

Michele Carroll and Carey May were joint recipients of Special Recognition Awards, while Paddy Fay (Raheny Shamrock) received the award for services to coaching.

123.ie National Athletics Awards Award Winners

Hall of Fame: Catherina McKiernan

Lifetime Services to Athletics: Pat Kelly

Athlete of the Year: Ciara Mageean

Endurance Athlete of the Year: Efrem Gidey

Under 20 Athlete of the Year: Reece Ademola

Under 23 Athlete of the Year: Rhasidat Adeleke

Track & Field Athlete of the Year: Ciara Mageean

Team of the Year: 4x400m Mixed Relay World Champs

Inspirational Performance on Irish Soil: Nick Griggs

Special recognition Awards: Michele Carroll and Carey May 11.

Performance Club of the Year: Leevale AC