Ciara Mageean

But yeah, I certainly took no prisoners out on the pitch.

Whenever I put that Portoferi jersey on, yeah, I'd run through an absolute brick wall.

So yeah, that was probably that fierce competitiveness that I had at an early age that then transferred directly into athletics.

But I certainly had to hone it in in a more disciplined way than I maybe did on the commodity field.

I'd say there was probably a little bit of...

Like acknowledgement during my late teens that, OK, you're very good at this running stuff and maybe the camogie should take a back seat.

I honestly would say if somebody had forced me to give up camogie early doors in the sense that like 15, 16, 17, 18, I would have left athletics because I absolutely loved camogie.

And maybe just that stubbornness in me would have said, do you know what?

I'm not listening to you say that.

But for me...

There's probably a realisation whenever I was getting to world championship stage at junior level.

So basically under 18, under 20.

And I was heading off to represent Ireland at the highest level.

And I was playing like our local rivals only a couple of weeks before.

If anybody knows the GAA, your fiercest competitors are the people right next door to you.

So playing Ballycran and thinking, God, if I get hurt on this pitch, then that's not good.

I've trained so hard and I'm actually representing my country at a world championships.

But for me, I was like, look, I'll...

it was kind of like a line in the sand where I was like once I finished what I called minor so like under 18 camogie and was heading off to university that I'd be like okay that'll be my last season now in saying that I've been playing senior camogie since about under 14 I don't even know if that's legal anymore but yeah it was just a point where I said okay I'll draw it here You described the running talent as a blessing and a curse so that blessing curse is it something you're born with yeah?

I'd say, yeah, look, I compete in a gross motor sport and there has to be a certain level of just raw talent there to be able to excel at the highest level.