The Down athlete reflects on the devastation she felt at having to pull out of the Olympics on the eve of the Games and her intention to make Los Angeles in 2028 the pinnacle of her career

Ciara Mageean has admitted that she felt like she was ‘drowning’ after being forced to pull out of the Paris Olympics due to injury. In May of this year, the Portaferry flyer became a European gold medallist for the very first time with her 1500m triumph in Rome.

Ciara Mageean insists that Los Angeles is still in her sights as she continues her recovery from the surgery that kept her out of the Paris Olympics.

Ciara Mageean admits that it “feels kind of crass” to compare your down days in sport to life’s bigger losses, but still, so devastated was she when injury forced her to pull out of the summer’s Olympic Games,

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There may be no more eloquent athlete to describe the depth of despair of being forced to withdraw from the Olympic Games than Ciara Mageean.