Terrific Tokyo display by Diver
Sinéad Diver ran an impressive time in Tokyo in what was her eighteenth marathon.
Athletics: Mayo AC member Sinéad Diver returned to marathon competition on Sunday, March 1 with a brilliant run in the Tokyo Marathon where she was the 19th woman across the line in 2:29.57.
It was the Belmullet native’s first marathon outing since the Paris Olympics in 2024, when she had to pull out due to medical issues.
Last October, on a comeback trail, she finished third in the Nike Melbourne Festival Half-marathon in 1:10.56, behind winner Izzi Batt-Doyle 1:08.55. Sinéad's personal best for the half-marathon is 1:08.50 which she ran in Japan in 2020.
In Tokyo, she set another amazing mark in her relatively short athletics career.
“It’s not the time I trained for but I’m proud of the fight it took to get to the line,” said Sinéad afterwards. “Some days the marathon feels like a dream, other days it’s a beast. Today was the latter.
“Training suggested more was there but sometimes the marathon has its own plan. I’ll take the learnings from this build and move forward,” she added.
This latest marathon was Sinéad’s eighteenth and came just days after she turned 49. Her 2:21.34 marathon in December 2022 in Valencia was an Australian record until December 2025 when her teammate and friend Jessica Stenson produced a masterful run on the same Valencia course, finishing fifth woman in 2:21:25, to slice nine seconds off Sinéad’s time. Stenson is all of ten years younger!
Sinéad Diver’s Valencia time is still the fastest by an Irish-born woman in the marathon.
It was also in Tokyo that Sinéad made her Olympic debut representing her adopted country Australia (the race took place in Sapporo in 2021), when she placed an outstanding 10th in challenging, hot conditions. She was the highest placed Australian woman in the event at the Olympics since Lisa Ondieki won silver in 1988 and was arguably her finest performance to date.
It’s an indicator of her remarkable resilience and consistency over the years that Sinéad made her marathon debut in Melbourne in 2014, where she ran 2:34.15.
She joined Mayo AC in 2014 and is a registered member for 2026.
Depending on recovery from Tokyo, Sinéad plans to run another marathon during the year, possibly in Australia.
