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148th National Irish Championships Round Up
A third Irish record in the space of a month proved a step too far for Ciara Mageean, as she looked out of sorts in the 1500m at the Stockholm Diamond League.
Mageean who has been in scintillating form in recent weeks, finished 12th against a high-quality field, crossing over in 4:10.99. Mageean’s 1500m personal best currently sits at 4:00.15, which she achieved at last year’s World Championship final in Doha.
Prior to the event, the question was whether would Mageean break Sonia O’Sullivan’s 25-year old record Irish 1500m time of 3:58.85. Since 1995, no Irish woman has ever run sub four-minutes let alone come close to O’Sullivan’s record but with Mageean in the best shape of her life and claiming the 800m and 1000m records in successive weeks, all athletics fans were on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what Mageean could do.
We have far more bad days than good days in athletics and it wasn't to be for Ciara Mageean today. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the sub 4 1500m... Just watching everyone quietly tip toe back off the bandwagon now.
— Martin cox (@martincox1982) August 23, 2020
It didn’t materialise. Not looking her best, Mageean lost touch with the pack heading into the final stretch and had nothing left in the tank to pull it back. Athletes have off-days and unfortunately for Mageean, this was one of hers. Mageean wasn't the only one who struggled as Helen Obiri, who was hotly tipped as one of the favourites for the race finished one place above Mageean with a time of 4:10.53. Obiri won the 5000m last week at the Monaco Diamond league and is the Olympic 5000m silver medallist and current African champion. It appeared both athletes were tired after an intense period of racing and unusual season so far.
Mageean admitted she was disappointed with her race but is looking ahead for what’s to come.
Disappointed with how I raced today, some days it's just not there. Time now to evaluate, recover and get ready for the next one.
— Ciara Mageean (@ciaramageean) August 23, 2020
European champion Laura Muir led at the bell and powered clear on the final lap to win in 3:57.86 – the fastest time in the world this year – with fellow British athletes Laura Weightman and Melissa Courtney-Bryant completing a one-two-three in the event.
The Irish National Championships took place at the weekend in Santry. Click here to read more.
