CIARA Mageean has identified September’s World Athletics Championships as the number one goal for her return to the track.
The Portaferry midle-distance runner continues to recover from the longstanding ankle injury which ultimately denied her from competing at last summer’s Olympic Games.
After undergoing sugery in September, 32-year-old Mageean revealed that her sights are now firmly fixed on the Worlds in the autumn.
In an interview with RTÉ Radio 1’s The Ray D’Arcy Show, the European 1500m gold medallist said:
“We’re looking at four, five months post-op now. I went through all the early rehab where I had to keep my foot elevated 50 minutes of every hour. I had ten minutes where I was able to toddle about and go to the toilet, but the rest of it I had my foot elevated to keep the swelling down.
“There was a good few packets of Pringles ate and there was a lot of TV watched,” she added.
“When I was allowed I got back training. I’m not allowed to run just yet, I’m currently training as normal as I can without being able to run.
“I’m hoping, fingers crossed, that my physio will tell me that I’ll be able to run in the next few weeks. (The Worlds) is the big aim.”
It was at the World Championships in Budapest in 2023 that Mageean produced arguably her most impressive career display, finshing an agonising fourth in a star-studded 1500m final to just miss out on a medal.
