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European 1500m champion and two-time Olympian Ciara Mageean dies of bowel cancer aged 34, just weeks after her wedding

Ciara Mageean, draped in an Irish tricolour after winning 1500m gold at the European Athletics Championships, was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in May 2025 and died on Sunday, one week after marrying Thomas Moran.
Ciara Mageean, draped in an Irish tricolour after winning 1500m gold at the European Athletics Championships, was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in May 2025 and died on Sunday, one week after marrying Thomas Moran.
Ciara Mageean walking with her husband along a cobbled alley on their wedding day; she had competed at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, with a third Paris Games appearance cut short by an Achilles injury.
Ciara Mageean walking with her husband along a cobbled alley on their wedding day; she had competed at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, with a third Paris Games appearance cut short by an Achilles injury.

Ciara Mageean, who became the first individual Irish European athletics champion since Sonia O'Sullivan when she won the 1500m gold in Rome in June 2024, died at 6.30am on Sunday morning at home in Portaferry, County Down, surrounded by her family. She had been diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in May 2025, just 11 months after her crowning triumph. Her husband Thomas Moran, whom she married at Belfast City Hall on 12 October, was by her side.

Mageean told her followers after her Rome gold: 'I didn't grow up playing camogie to get boxed in.'

Irish President Catherine Connolly said she showed 'the same qualities that marked her running career' in facing her illness.

Mageean missed the 2024 Paris Olympics with an Achilles injury — her Rome gold the month before proved her only major championship title.

MoreBBC News - UKCiara Mageean: Tributes paid to 'inspirational' Olympic athlete following her deathEvening StandardIrish Olympian Ciara Mageean was ‘a champion in every sense of the word’Daily Mail NewsEuropean 1500 metre champion runner and two-time Olympian, 34, who married last month passes away after cancer battleEvening StandardIrish Olympian Ciara Mageean dies aged 34Evening StandardCiara Mageean put Ireland on the map again for middle distance runningLBCFormer Olympian dies aged 34 just weeks after weddingAPCiara Mageean, former European 1,500 champion, dies at age 34Irish TimesPresident Catherine Connolly leads tributes to Irish Olympian Ciara MageeanIrish TimesIrish Olympian and European champion Ciara Mageean has died aged 34Irish IndependentIrish Olympian and European gold medallist Ciara Mageean dies aged 34Irish Independent‘An extraordinary athlete and an exceptional person’ - Tributes paid to Irish Olympian Ciara Mageean following her death at 34PeopleCiara Mageean, 2-Time Olympian, Dies at 34 from Cancer
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