Record-breaking athlete, Ciara Mageean, has been named the 2023 BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year.
The Portaferry runner has enjoyed an outstanding year setting new national records and hitting form ahead of the Paris summer Olympics in 2024.
Competing for Ireland, Ciara knocked more than two seconds off Sonia O’Sullivan’s Irish mile record which had stood since 1994, becoming the fifth fastest athlete in history over the distance. She also broke the Irish 1500 record, before breaking that record again. She also set a new Irish 800 metre record.
Ciara has produced two of the greatest seasons ever by a local athlete that include Commonwealth and European silvers. In August, she finished just outside the medals, in fourth, in what is regarded as one of the best-ever line-ups for a women’s 1500 metres final at the World Championships.
Ciara said : “I’m thrilled to receive this award, especially with the calibre of athletes that we have in Northern Ireland being just phenomenal. I can’t thank everybody enough. This is just a reflection on the performances that I’ve had, but I wouldn’t be here without the support of everybody at home.
“I’m away a lot racing but I love coming back home because it reminds me what I do it for. I want to thank everybody in our community for being behind me every step of the way because honestly, if sheer will of support could get me a global medal, I know that everybody screaming at the TV would have gotten me that gold. I’m truly blessed to be from our wee part of the world.”
Neil Brittain, Executive Editor, BBC Sport NI said: “It has been an exceptional 12 months for local athletes with success at both national and international level. In 2023, Ciara Mageean has excelled on the world stage. In a hugely competitive year, she is a worthy winner of this award - both for her record-breaking achievements on the track and for her position as a role model for young people across the country.”
The judging panel was: Lady Mary Peters; former All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winner Oisín McConville; four-time paralympic champion Michael McKillop; Ireland’s most capped sportswoman Shirley McCay; Northern Ireland’s record appearance-maker Julie Nelson; Neil Brittain, Executive Editor BBC Sport NI and BBC Sport NI football commentator Thomas Kane.