Ciara Mageean – who has died aged just 34 – fought back tears in her final interview as she accepted she might not live to 40 and would never have the family she had dreamed of.
uncertain
she → die → family
The Northern Irish athlete admitted 'the odds are stacked against me' in the months before her death yesterday.
asserted
odds → admit → death
She spoke candidly about the grief of battling stage 4 bowel cancer and revealed that, after almost 20 rounds of chemotherapy, she did not expect to live a long life.
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she → speak → life
Ciara, who represented Ireland at two Olympic Games and won European gold just two years ago, became emotional as she admitted she would never have the children she had always wanted.
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she → represent → children
Ms Mageean and her long-term partner, Thomas Moran, married in a ceremony at Belfast City Hall just last month.
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Mageean → marry → Hall
Speaking over the summer after completing her memoir, she said: 'As a fit, healthy athlete, I thought that would be well into my eighties.
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that → speak → eighties
But being diagnosed with cancer at 33 made me realise I may not be here to celebrate my 40th birthday.
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I → diagnose → birthday
'That is something that is really tough to come to terms with,' she said, adding: 'I won’t take for granted the good things that I have.'
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I → come → that
Ciara Mageean admitted that she had hoped her fitness would allow her to lead a long life until her shock diagnosis with bowel cancer at just 33
Her death comes just weeks after she married her long-term partner Thomas Moran in an intimate civil ceremony in Belfast
She added: 'I probably will never have a family.
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I → admit → family
It's something I always wanted.
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I → want → ?
I'm at the age where your friends are having families.
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friends → have → families
My friends were nervous about telling me when they got pregnant, which was something I never wanted.
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I → tell → me
'Now I have, I know they're not my birth nieces and nephews, but I've got so many wee nieces and nephews and little bundles of joy in my life.'
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I → have → life
Speaking about her book, My Greatest Race, Ciara said she wrote it in part because she was 'leaving a bit of me behind, a bit of a legacy that will be there whenever I go'.
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I → speak → legacy
Days before her final interview with the Belfast Telegraph, she told Irish broadcaster RTÉ about the day she learned she had stage 4 bowel cancer.
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she → tell → cancer
She said she sat in 'stunned silence' with her husband Thomas and cried.
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she → say → Thomas
She said: 'I probably shouldn't have, but I Googled what the survival rate was for people with stage 4 cancer.
'
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rate → say → cancer
I saw that only 10 to 15 per cent of people with stage 4 cancer survive.
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cent → see → cancer
But I did think, okay, why can't I be in that 10 to 15 per cent?
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I → think → ?
It's a strange mix to have that determination and think, I'm not going to let this cancer win, but also have the sheer dread of thinking the grim reaper is right behind me.
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reaper → have → me
'I had never met somebody as young as me going through this, so there were so many emotions.'
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I → meet → this
By May this year, she had undergone 18 rounds of chemotherapy and remained hopeful about the future.
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she → undergo → future
She said at the time: 'I'm feeling fit and healthy.
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I → say → time
I don't know if I'm scared.
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I → know → ?
I don't know if fear is the thing I feel, just complete sadness that I don't get to have what I had before, where, like all of us, we're planning our lives ahead.
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we → know → lives
I'm hopeful that I get to live into old age, but the odds are stacked against me.
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odds → get → me
'
But she died yesterday surrounded by her family.
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she → die → family
A statement on her Instagram account said: 'At 6.30am, Ciara lost her battle with cancer surrounded by her loved ones.
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Ciara → say → ones
A beloved daughter, sister, wife, friend and inspiration to so many, she will be deeply missed,' the post said.
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post → miss → many
A two-time Olympian, Ms Mageean made history by winning a European 1,500-metre gold in Rome in 2024.
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Mageean → make → 2024
She also represented Ireland at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the same middle-distance event, and was due to compete at the 2024 Games before an Achilles injury ruled her out, just one day before her first heat at the event in Paris.
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injury → represent → Paris
Along with her European gold in 2024, she won European bronze in 2016 and silver in 2022, and also claimed silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
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she → win → Games
Ms Mageean holds Irish records in the 800m (1:58.51), 1000m (2:31.06), 1500m (3:55.87) and mile (4:14.58).
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Mageean → hold → m
European 1500-metre champion and two-time Olympian Ciara Mageean died yesterday, aged 34
Charlie McConalogue, Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, said he was 'deeply saddened by the untimely death of Ciara Mageean, a woman whose searing honesty both trackside after races and over the past couple of years in dealing with her illness secured her a place in the hearts of people all over the island'.
'Ciara exemplified all that is good about sport and community in Ireland.
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that → die → Ireland
Even as she won races around the globe, she remained incredibly connected to her own people in Portaferry,' he said.
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he → win → Portaferry
'Her joy in winning 1500-metres gold at the 2024 European Championships was shared by all who follow sport and her bravery in dealing with the cruel illness that followed was admired by everyone.
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that → win → everyone
She has been a role model for the next generation of Irish athletics and, as long as races are run on this island, her memory will not be forgotten.
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memory → run → island
Athletics Ireland said: 'Ciara was a much-loved and inspirational figure who touched the lives of so many.
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who → say → many
Her courage, warmth and spirit will leave a lasting legacy.
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courage → leave → legacy
Last July, Ms Mageean was a guest of honour at the Irish National Championships, in which she hosted the 'Run with Ciara Mageean' event, where the athletics community paid tribute to her and her achievements.
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community → host → her
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
