MIGHTY MUM MARATHON RUSH FOR LATECOMER
AN Irish-born mother of two who only took up running a decade ago is now Australia’s second best marathoner in Olympic history at the age of 44.
The extraordinary Sinead Diver story had its crowning moment in the extreme heat of Sapporo early on Saturday morning.
With her children cheering on from Melbourne and her parents glued to a television in Ireland, the oldest member of the athletics team stormed home to finish 10th, joining Lisa Ondieki in the history books.
Ondieki finished seventh in Los Angeles in 1984 and then won the silver medal in the marathon at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
After running conservatively early in the race, Diver was 20th at the 30km mark before launching an inspired charge moving to 11th at the 40km mark and then sprinting hard over the final 400m to grab 10th (2hr 31min 14sec).
“I’m that happy, I didn’t expect to top 10. That was something I really wanted before the race, so I’m absolutely stoked that I fought for that spot at the end,” Diver said.
“I had to sprint to get past the girl in front of me, so I’m so happy that I managed to do that.
“My coach Nic (Bideau) said to me before the race the first 90 minutes you have to feel relatively comfortable, the race doesn’t start until after that and I just kept reminding myself of that.
“I kept pulling back a bit and then I just gave it everything f rom about 32km. It is still a long way to go and it is really hot out there. I’m just so relieved I was able to stay strong until the end.” Diver’s journey to wearing the green and gold started back in 2002 when she arrived in Australia from Ireland on a holiday with husband Colin, and then never left. She took up running 11 years ago after her first son Eddie was born just to keep fit. When the Olympics were postponed Diver thought she’d missed her chance, with the stress taking its toll during Victoria’s prolonged lockdown. That’s why she couldn’t hide her emotions after the race, sending a shoutout to her children at home and parents in Ireland, “My Dad is probably the proudest man on the planet right now,” she said.
Fellow Olympic debutant Ellie Pashley, from Torquay in Victoria, finished 23rd (2:33.39) while 42year-old mother Lisa Weightman finished 26th (2:34.19) in her fourth Olympic Games. Kenya produced a historic quinella, becoming the first country in 112 years to finish first and second. Peres Jepchirchir 2hr 27min 20sec) outsprinted world record holder Brigid Kosgei over the final couple of kilometres to win by 16 seconds.
American Molly Seidel was just a further 10 seconds away to win bronze.