Top 10 finish for Mayo woman at Tokyo Olympics

Sinead Diver from Belmullet, representing Australia, has finished a fantastic 10th in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics. She crossed the line in a time of 2:31.14. Aged 44, she was making her Olympics debut.

Diver was among the leaders at the start of the marathon, held in Sapporo, but a group broke away at the head of the field after 10km.

In 20th place with 10km remaining, Diver put in a storming finished to pick off competitors who found the pace set by the eventual medal winners too much to handle.

The Belmullet woman, who emigrated to Melbourne in 2002, only took up running 11 years ago. She has since run three World Championship marathons for Australia, in which her best result was 14th in Doha two years ago.

When she qualified for the 2015 World Championships she sought selection for Ireland but didn’t meet Athletics Ireland’s then elevated requirements. Australia, however, offered her a chance at a major championships instead, and now she has become the first Team Australia woman to finish in the top 10 in an Olympic marathon.

Speaking to Australian TV broadcaster 7News after the run, Diver said: “I just want to say hi to my dad and my mam. My dad is probably the proudest man on the planet at the moment. So hi guys, and I know that everyone at home in Belmullet, they’re all out to watch this race, so thank you all.”

Representing Ireland, Fionnuala McCormack finished in 25th place in her fourth Olympics, while Aoife Cooke was forced to retire early in what were gruelling conditions.

Kenyans Peres Jepchirchir and Brigid Kosgei won gold and silver respectively ahead of American Molly Seidel in third.