Ciara Mageean: family ‘over the moon’ with first gold medal

Portaferry’s Ciara Mageean clinched her first major title at the age of 32 as she won 1500m gold for Ireland at the European Championships in Rome.

Mageean, who won bronze and silver medals at previous European Championships, held her nerve in a tactical battle to find a small gap between Great Britain duo Georgia Bell and Jemma Reekie with 90 metres left.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster programme, Ciara’s mother, Catherine, said she was “over the moon,” with the win.

“We usually go to the European events, we are all heading to Paris for a longer time, but we opted out of this one. A part of me regrets that now,” she said.

“We were rather nervous at home, pacing up and down the room, my husband, he was doing gymnastics, jumping up and down then he runs outside, “Yes, Yes, Yes,” down the street.”