Ciara Mageean withdraws from Olympics due to 'Achilles issue'

European champion runner Ciara Mageean has withdrawn from the Olympic Games in Paris due to "painful chronic Achilles issues", according to Team Ireland.

In the final weeks of preparation before the games in the French capital Mageean had been trying to deal with the injury.

The Portaferry athlete was to run in tomorrow’s 1500m heats but will not be able to compete "despite every effort made by Ciara and the Team Ireland medical team", Team Ireland said in a statement.

"I’m absolutely heartbroken not to be able to compete in my third Olympic Games," Mageean said.

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She added: "I gave it everything to make it possible to be on the start line, but time was against me. I want to thank everyone for all their support."

The 32-year-old was a contender for a medal in Paris after she won a gold medal in the 1500m final at the European Athletics Championships in Rome earlier this year with a time of 4:04.66.

Mageean has represented Ireland at both the 2016 Rio Games and pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Games.

Former Irish Olympic runner Derval O'Rourke said Mageean has been dealing with "an ongoing Achilles issue for about 11 years".

"I feel incredibly sorry for her because I don’t think she’s had the performance at an Olympics that she would have wanted in her career, and four years is a pretty long time at this point for her. So, horrendous for her to deal with that," O’Rourke said.