Olympic Games marathon runner who dropped out after just 1.2KM breaks her silence amid selection storm

Sinead Diver has broken her silence after the Australian veteran's heartbreaking withdrawal from the Olympic Games marathon.

Aussie national record holder Diver, 47, pulled out of the women's race after just 1.2 kilometres, with worrying pictures showing the runner doubled over crowd barriers at the side of the course.

It was later revealed that Diver had been struggling with a plantar issue prior to the race, but an unrelated quad spasm hampered her chances. 

'I'm absolutely devastated to have had to DNF at my second Olympic Games. I was dealing with a plantar issue in the lead in to this race. It was manageable and I was training, fit and ready to race. That had nothing to do with why I pulled out,' she wrote on Instagram.

'In the warm-up, my quads started to spasm without any warning. I hoped it would resolve as I started running but it didn't and they seized up within the first km to the point that I couldn't bend my knees. I don't fully understand what's caused this.'

Diver also opened up on the 'challenging' build up to the race, in which she was exposed to online vitriol stemming from reports of her plantar problem.

A huge row had boiled over prior to the Olympics when decorated runner Lisa Weightman was overlooked by officials.

Diver was the top pick of the three athletes selected, but the injury rumours led to calls for her to be replaced by an emergency runner.

Sinead Diver has broken her silence on what went wrong for her at the Olympic Games

Read More

Olympic Games marathon runner who dropped out after just 1.2KM breaks her silence amid selection storm

'The lead in to this race has been one of the most challenging times of my life. The vitriol online has had a significant impact on my mental health and I have no doubt that has played a part in my body breaking down in this way,' she added.

'The culmination of stress over the last few weeks has finally taken its toll.

'I'm aware of some of the negative commentary during & since the race but this time I'm not going to listen. This is what happened. If you choose not to believe it, then so be it.

'Thank you to everyone else who has shown kindness & empathy and sent messages of support to acknowledge that we are all human and sometimes things happen that are out of our control, no matter how hard we try.'

Three-time Aussie Olympic athlete Tamsyn Manou (nee Lewis) expressed her shock while commentating on the event on Nine. 

'I feel for Sinead Diver in this situation because she's worked so hard and she earned this spot by being our fastest athlete, there's no question on that,' Manou said. 

Fellow Aussies Jess Stenson and Genevieve Gregson finished the marathon in 13th and 24th respectively. 

Selectors snubbed Weightman and instead went with Stenson, who qualified fourth. 

'I am of course disappointed by the decision given that I fought hard and fair to gain my qualification time,' Weightman said in a statement at the time. 

'What I am most disappointed about is AA's (Athletics Australia) own internal systems and procedures that have allowed this outcome and which, unless corrected, will negatively impact future Australian athletes and their legitimate claims to represent Australia.'

The incident sparked an on-air debate between Manou and her co-commentator David Culbert during the coverage of the marathon.

It came as Weightman won the Sunshine Coast half marathon in a blistering time of 70 minutes back home in Australia earlier on Sunday.

The 47-year-old was forced to pull out of the marathon after just 1.2km of the race

'The three athletes who were picked are great athletes in their own right, and I also feel for Sinead Diver in this situation because she's worked so hard and she earned this spot by being our fastest athlete, there's no question on that,' Manou said.

But she admitted she was 'heartbroken' for Weightman, who was 10th in Tokyo.

Culbert responded: 'That's true, Tamsyn, but you can't take someone's spot to run a kilometre. I'm sorry.'

'If you know that that's the case, if you've known in good enough time ... you don't get picked to start the race, you get picked to try and finish it — that's the famous story of the marathon.'

Culbert added that fierce questions still remain.

'We'll take it on face value,' he said.

'There's a lot of information to suggest there's another story, and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.'

'To be honest, unless we get the right answers, it's going to (leave) a question mark on what's been an unbelievable campaign for Australia.'