'From that day on I knew she could be very special'

Ciara Mageean will be up against the likes of Faith Kipyegon and Laura Muir in the 1500m

It is late August 2006 and a perfect Sunday afternoon for athletics at Tullamore in the All-Ireland Age Group Championships.

A 14-year-old Ciara Mageean had only been training in athletics for a couple of months, but she would soon announce herself in style.

Eamonn Christie was coaching both Mageean and another highly rated youngster in Joanne Mills who was also racing the 1500m.

"The plan was for Joanne and Ciara to take it on from the gun and whoever wanted it the most from the bell was going to get it," recalled Christie.

"When the bell went, Ciara just took off. It was phenomenal.

"From that day on I knew she was special and she could be very, very good."

Jump forward 18 years and Mageean is in that position again at the European Championships in June.

Coming into the final 300 metres in Rome's Stadio Olimpico, she was battling with Georgia Bell and Jemma Reekie. Mageean, with pace in the tank, is probing for a opening to appear.

Then, with 100m to go, a smile breaks out on her face as the slightest gap begins to emerge between the two British runners.

Mageean, now 32, had won European silver and bronze before but never stood on the top step.

It was her time and she knew it. She went for the gap, and the rest is history.

Eamonn Christie coached Ciara Mageean to plenty of junior success

Growing up in the County Down town of Portaferry, Mageean was a typical teenager who loved playing sport.

While athletics would turn into her career, it was camogie that was her first love along with Irish dancing and drama.

However, after some impressive performances in cross country at school, Mageean started to garner some attention by talent spotters.

"To be honest, Ciara wasn't interested," recalled her mother, Catherine.

"She just wanted to play camogie at that stage."

Although results at school level kept coming as Mageean started racing on the track as well as cross country, Catherine admits the "seed wasn't set" for what was to come.

But the phone calls about bringing her to trials and competitions kept coming.

"We dragged her along. I said to Christopher [Ciara's father], 'they must really see something'.

"We just saw her as a child that had great aptitude for sport, but they saw something else.

"We took her up to the Mary Peters track and it took off from there."

A young Ciara Mageean meets Sonia O'Sullivan, the last woman to win an athletics medal at the Olympics for Ireland

And take off it did. Mageean soon had the bug for athletics and her newfound talent led to a full-on life as she balanced athletics and her studies.

For those unfamiliar with the geography of Northern Ireland, for Mageean to get to school in Ballynahinch she would have to get the 07:45 ferry across Strangford Lough and a bus from there up to Assumption Grammar School.

After school, she would then get a bus up to Belfast, where she would do her homework in a cafe at a shopping centre before her mum picked her up to take her to training at the Mary Peters Track.

After leaving the house at 07:30, both mother and daughter would not return to Portaferry for another 15 hours.

Saturdays were less chaotic, but it was another drive to Belfast to the Mary Peters Track, which bears the name of the first Olympic gold medallist from Northern Ireland.

Such was her love for camogie, she continued to play for Portaferry, often combining playing for several age groups at the same time.

"Ciara just had bundles of energy and had great talent," Catherine added.

"She still played all her other sport in the meantime, it was just constant. She was on the go all the time.

"I look back and wonder how we got the energy, but we did."

'She came back from zero'

Christie was Mageean's first coach and was by her side as she claimed junior honour after junior honour.

She won a bronze medal for Northern Ireland at the 2009 Commonwealth Youth Games and followed that up with a silver in the 800m at the World Youth Championships in Italy.

A week later, she claimed a stunning gold in the 1500m at the European Youth Olympics in Finland.

Another major breakthrough moment was in the 2010 World Junior Championship in Moncton, Canada, where she won a silver medal in a highly rated field, and another silver followed in the European Junior Championships in Tallinn.

When it came to the moment Christie knew he was working with a special talent, there was one instance that stood out.

"I think in Finland when she won her Olympic youth medal and she pulverised some of the best athletes in Europe.

"A reporter there asked me how good Ciara could be. I still remember to this day.

"I said 'In my opinion I think she'll break two minutes in 800m, she'll break four minutes for the 1500m and she has a fair shot of winning an Olympic medal'.

"Two out of three isn't bad so far. Hopefully in August we can get three out of three."

A 19-year-old Mageean with her silver medal from the women's 1500m at the European Junior Athletics Championships in Estonia in 2011.

To be at the top level you need to have that ruthless, competitive edge.

Mageean is one of four siblings with sisters Maire and Nuala and brother, Brendan.

Along with their father Christopher, Catherine says "the competition was always there" in the family.

In fact, it still is to this day. Mageean made it home to celebrate her father's 60th birthday and, on a weekend away, the family had an archery competition.

"They always want to be the best," said Catherine.

"It was a great afternoon but the competition was still there. She was very controlled, I'm sure she could do archery for Ireland as well.

"Between her and her father, I'm not sure who was the best shot. I'll be diplomatic and say it was a draw."

The Mageean family at Christopher's 60th birthday - all smiles after their archery competition

Mageean's talent was obvious, and her desire even more so, but it has not always been a smooth journey.

After deciding on a career in athletics when she went to Dublin for university, Mageean took on the late Jerry Kiernan as her coach.

However, her progress was derailed by a serious ankle injury that, according to Catherine, left her at "rock bottom".

"But she kept going. She was able to walk but she couldn't do it for long and she couldn't run. Jerry brought her up from zero to regain the fitness she needed to win her European bronze in 2016.

"That takes a determination within you to come back and not to lose hope, not to lose that faith that you can be back where you were."

'What will be will be'

Legacy is always talked about when it comes to the Olympics. Whether it is the host nation or individual athletes, there is no escaping it.

Mageean's status as one of Ireland's greatest athletes is already secure, but it is her position as a role model and what she has given back that is making a difference as she looks to inspire the next generation.

And it is in that sense, no matter what happens in Paris or what she goes on to achieve in her career, Mageean has already won.

"Ciara is always looking to give something back and, to me, that part of your legacy is much more important than winning medals and fast times," Christie said.

"The medals you have, you can put them in a display cabinet and the times are always there to be broken, but being approachable and friendly and not forgetting where you come from is much more important. Ciara hasn't forgotten that."

After years of hard work and heartbreak, Mageean became European champion in Rome in June to complete her set of medals

Now it all comes down to this.

After winning European gold, her self-belief is at an all-time high as she heads to Paris.

Her late coach Kiernan predicted Mageean would not hit her peak until her 30s, which is proving prophetic.

The depth of quality in the 1500m field is daunting, however, with world record holder Faith Kipyegon and British talent Laura Muir among the contenders.

Catherine, who was recently with her daughter at altitude training in Switzerland, says "everything is going to plan" but is circumspect about her daughter's chances.

"What will be will be. You just hope it all falls into place, and sometimes you just need a little bit of luck.

"You just hope, on the day, all the stars align."