SINEAD DIVER might’ve been wearing the Australian vest on the streets of Beijing this morning but her 21st place finish in the marathon at the IAAF World Championships would’ve been celebrated in Donegal.
Diver is native of Belmullet, Co Mayo. Her father, retired civil servant Eddie is originally from Coshclady, Bunbeg, and her mother, Bríd (née Dunleavy) hails from Belmullet.
Having only taken up marathon running last year, the now 38-year-old finished the course this morning in a time of 2:36.38 – the leading Australian competitor ahead of teammates Sarah Klein in 23rd with 2:37.58 and Julia Degan, who was 46th in a time of 2:49.26.
“I was ranked 31st going in, so I wanted to beat my ranking,” Diver said. “If I had got top 20 I would have been ecstatic, but I’m still really happy with 21st. It was really exciting to be on the start line with all the best runners in the world. It was daunting, but I was so ready to get out there and race today.”
A graduate of Physical Education and Irish from the University of Limerick, Diver and her then boyfriend Colin, who is from Limerick, left for Australia as so many do – for a year – back in 2002. Thirteen years later, the now husband and wife have two children, Eddie and Dara and the family have settled in Melbourne.
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