Ciara Mageean of Ireland and and Rowena Cole of Great Britain in action (© Getty Images)
Ciara Mageean had little expectations when she lined up Sunday in the finals of the girls’ 800m finals, except she wanted to do her best.
A few minutes later and she had won her first international medal, a silver in a personal best 2.03:07 behind a Championships record 2.01.67 seconds by Kenya’s Cherono Koech.
Ciara was 10th in the 1500m finals at the World Junior Championships last year in Poland, and had a previous personal best of 2:05.38 seconds.
And she was delighted she said right after the medal ceremony, “You can never go into a race expecting a medal; you can just go and do your hardest and luckily on the day I was and I am delighted.”
It was a tough race she said with a lot of pushing and shoving adding “but that must be expected at this standard.”
A bit of pushing and shoving would not bother a girl who likes to play camogie, a Gaelic sport that involves a stick and ball.
Other members of her family also play camogie she says but she is the only one to have excelled on the track but this may spur others to get involved.
Paul Reid for the IAAF
