Ciara Mageean reveals her eagerness to take home a medal ...

CIARA MAGEEAN has an unshakeable Faith. The 31-year-old believes she can come away with a medal from the women’s 1500 metres final at the world championships.

But gold? Maybe an impossible task, she admits.

Faith Kipyegon – Defending champion. Double Olympic gold medallist. World record holder. Mum of one. The Kenyan, 28, is the G.O.A.T.

And although the Portaferry power reckons she’s in the shape – and form - of her life, stopping the greatest of all time may be a mission impossible and she’s gladly salute her rival if she pulls off another title.

“She is a fantastic athlete,” Mageean said.

“And she's an even more fantastic person and a type of athlete that I look up to as one of her competitors.

"She’s also somebody that will turn round and say ‘congrats on your personal best’ despite her winning an Olympic gold.

“And honestly, the type of person like that, it's hard not to get behind her. And we all really enjoy cheering her on and being witness to some of the greatest runs of all time from Faith this year.

“But I'd say across the whole 1500 metres field, I've really enjoyed racing with the bunch of girls this year. People ask, ‘are you not really competitive with each other?’ There's no doubt on that track that we are.

“But whenever you come off, there's nobody knows the journey better than the girl beside me. And it's quite nice.”

The Irish mile mark was smashed by Mageean in following Kipyegon home when she took down her third world record of the summer last month in Monaco.

As Sunday’s semis hinted, this final could put history under threat once again.

The Euro medallist has made a guess at the strategy she’ll need to become Ireland’s first world medallist in ten years.

But she said: “Whenever you're in it, you have to run the race has come in front of you. And you don't know what kind of hand you're going to be dealt.

"So sometimes something unfolds in front of you that you just couldn't have planned before, no matter what shape you're in.

“I personally just feel that I am ready for anything that unfolds and just feel to have plenty of types of racing in my arsenal.”

But Manchester-based Mageean knows it could be now or never as one of around seven women who – bar the mother of all shocks – will be scrapping for silver and bronze.

“I always felt that I belonged there. But it certainly has put away the doubts in my head, the past season I've had and the season before that.

“I'm finally here in a place that I belong: on the world stage. And it gives me confidence going out there and toeing the line.

"Whenever you have a mile time of 4:14 behind you, you have to take confidence from that and been able to get out and compete against the girls in these fields, women who were beating me in previous years.

“I'm up there competing and beating them. And so it's really nice place to be.”