Ciara Mageean breaks Irish 800m record

Mageean became the first Irishwoman to break two minutes when setting the Irish record at 1:59.69 back in 2020, only to surrender it to fellow Olympian Louise Shanahan last year, who clocked 1:59.42 to beat her in Belfast.

Sat, 27 May, 2023 - 19:36

Cathal Dennehy

Ciara Mageean has reclaimed the Irish 800m record after clocking 1:59.27 at the British Milers Club meeting in Manchester.

The 31-year-old Portaferry native had endured a tough start to 2023 after a breakthrough season last year, when she won 1500m silver at the Commonwealth Games and European Championships before taking her first ever Diamond League victory in Brussels, breaking Sonia O’Sullivan’s Irish 1500m record with 3:56.63.

But she endured a rough winter, her sole outing of the indoor season coming in Boston in February, where she dropped out of the 3000m. Afterwards, she explained she had missed several weeks of training due to a tear in her peroneal tendon.

She returned to action at the Bristol Track Club 5km last month, clocking 15:24 to carve 20 seconds off her previous best for the distance, and opened her track season with a promising 2:00.36 for 800m last weekend in Belfast.

In Manchester on Saturday evening, she went quicker again, her 1:59.27 bringing her home second behind Australia’s Abbey Caldwell (1:58.92).

The target of her season will be the World Championships in Budapest in August. Her best finish in a global final was her 10th-place finish in Doha in 2019 which Mageean, based on current form, will feel confident about improving this year.