// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Tributes to 'inspirational' Olympian Ciara Mageean after death at 34
A statement posted on Mageean's social media on Sunday said she died surrounded by her loved ones
Tributes have been paid to former European champion and two-time Olympic runner Ciara Mageean, who has died at the age of 34.
Mageean, from Portaferry in County Down, was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in May 2025.
She died on Sunday morning, surrounded by her loved ones, a statement posted on her social media accounts said.
"A beloved daughter, sister, wife, friend and inspiration to so many, she will be deeply missed," it said.
Mageean's death comes less than three weeks after her marriage to her long-term partner Thomas Moran.
The athlete represented Ireland at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics and won gold in the 1500m at the European Athletics Championships in Rome in 2024.
She also represented Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games, winning silver in Birmingham in 2022.
Olympic legend Lady Mary Peters said Mageean was a "wonderful lady" who was "gracious, beautiful, talented and inspirational to the next generation".
"We knew she was very ill and we knew that it was inevitable but we didn't expect it so soon," said the 1972 Olympic pentathlon gold medallist.