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Sinead Diver became the third-fastest Australian marathoner of all-time when she finished seventh at the 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon in April in 2:24:11, a time that met the qualifying mark for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The only Australian women to have run a faster marathon than Diver are Benita Willis and 1992 New York City Marathon champion Lisa Ondieki.

Two months prior to that, Diver became the fastest women’s half-marathoner over the age of 40 when she ran a 1:08:55 to finish third at the Marugame Half Marathon in Japan. Her new personal best broke her previous mark of 1:09:20; before Diver, the record was held by American Deena Kastor.

Diver’s breakout story is remarkable considering she didn’t take up running until 2010 after she gave birth to her eldest son, Eddie. Born in the small town of Belmuett, Ireland, she attended a school that did not offer organized sports. She grew up focused on academics, studied computing and moved to Australia in 2002.

She started running on her maternity leave and then signed up to run with a local club before competing at a state level. In 2012, she won the Australian Half Marathon Championships. She then moved to the marathon after giving birth to her second son, Darragh, and clocked a World Championships qualifying time in her first marathon in Melbourne in 2014. Diver then began competing for Australia and gained a spot on their 2015 and 2017 World Championships marathon teams. She finished 21st and 20th, respectively.