Heartbreak for Mageean as Irish record run not enough for medal 

After the finish she dropped to the track, lay there, spent in every possible way. She won’t have a medal to bring home. What she will have? The knowledge she did everything she could.

IRISH RECORD: Ciara Mageean finishes fourth in the women's 1500m final in Budapest 

Oh, this one hurt. Physically, it left Ciara Mageean prone on the track, every fibre of her being exhausted, depleted, by the delirious effort required to finish fourth in the world. After the race she lay there for a few minutes, gasping for air. She had done all she could.

Mentally, emotionally, it left her carrying that awful burden that comes part and parcel of every fourth-place finish. Yes, she’d risen higher than ever before, producing the best run of her life when she needed it most. But, damn, this was so, so close to what she prized the most.

“I laid myself bare, ran a tactically perfect race,” she said. “I just wish I had something a little extra in that homestretch, but I honestly gave it my all, absolutely everything I had. I’ll go home and have a wee cry, but I’m proud of how I performed.” 

She won’t have a medal to bring home from Budapest. What she will have? The knowledge she did everything she could.

“To stand here, being a bit disappointed with fourth in the World, in previous years I would have taken off your hand for that,” she said. “It’s amazing to be disappointed at that.” 

Mageean has won European and Commonwealth medals. She has won a Diamond League. But never has the Portaferry native risen so high when it matters most – on a day when the world’s middle-distance royalty was there on the line, running at their absolute peak. The 31-year-old ran an Irish record of 3:56.61. 

The race was won, as expected, by Faith Kipyegon, the peerless Kenyan clocking 3:54.87 to stamp her supremacy and claim her third world 1500m title. Silver went to Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji in 3:55.69, with Sifan Hassan winning bronze in 3:56.00.

Mageean ran the perfect race, settling on the inside curve as Kipyegon towed the field through 400m in 65, 800m in a steady 2:11. The gears began to shift with 500m to run, and Mageean was right there, ready to strike – if she was good enough.

For so much of the last lap, she seemed destined to claim Ireland’s sixth-ever World Championships medal, and just the third on the track, but then as the entered the final turn, along came Hassan, the 2019 world champion.

Try as she might, Mageean couldn’t reel in the trio ahead of her up the home straight. After dropping to the track, gathering herself, she rose again, the exhausted, sombre look on her face soon giving way to a smile. She looked at the legions of Irish fans, sensing what she’d achieved, even if it wasn’t the reward she wanted. She beamed, finally, with well-deserved pride.

“I finally feel I’m where I belong, in the top of women’s 1500m. And I’ve shown I’m someone to be feared out there now. It’s not a bad place to be, going into an Olympic year. I still have to hold my head high. I gave absolutely everything out on that track.” 

Earlier in the night, Sarah Lavin made a flying start to her championships by clocking the second-quickest time of her career to finish third in her 100 hurdles heat in 12.69. That was behind only the 12.67 she ran in Bern, Switzerland a fortnight ago and brought her home behind Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent (12.60) and USA’s Masai Russell. 

“It was a good race, I know I hit one or two and there’s no room for that kind of error in the next round,” she said. “It’s a stacked event.” 

Lavin is closing in on Derval O’Rourke’s Irish record of 12.65 and she will take another shot at that – and the world’s best – in today’s semi-finals. “If it happens this year, amazing, but I’ve done everything I can to take it. It will require that and more (to advance). To make the final, we’re looking at low 12.50s.” 

Mark English also impressed, navigating a tricky path to a world 800m semi-final. The Donegal man was almost pushed off the track after 200m but recovered to finish fourth in his heat in a season’s best of 1:45.71. 

“The 800m is a rhythm race and I had to check my stride and get back into it, stay focused,” he said. “It's more mentally hard to try to be in contention with the guys ahead of you, but I was just going to give it everything.” 

John Fitzsimons bowed out after finishing fifth in a slow-run 800m heat, his time of 1:48.20 not quick enough to advance.