Ciara Mageean: Irish athlete still targeting Worlds despite ongoing recovery after surgery

Mageean acknowledged that being unable to get in a full winter’s training is not ideal in terms of plotting a summer campaign but she is remaining positive.

“I’m doing every form of cross-training that I can to keep myself physically fit while slowly getting back running,” added the Portaferry woman, who memorably clinched the European 1500m title in Rome last June before injury wrecked her Olympic ambitions.

“My big goal is the next Olympics in LA so I have plenty of time to get ready for that. I’m probably not in the place I would want to be running wise but this is all part of the journey and success isn’t linear.”

The comparatively late scheduling of this year’s World Championships in Tokyo which take place from 13-21 September does give Mageean additional time to regain fitness.

The County Down woman was giving the fitness update after speaking in typically passionate fashion about the importance of getting more Northern Ireland females involved in sport.

“In my opinion, today’s conference is vital,” said the Ireland and Northern Ireland athletics heroine of the Sport NI initiative.

“No matter what you look like, where you are from… no matter how you feel, you can find your place in sport.”