Donna Tyberek-MacFarlane (born 18 June 1977 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

) is an Australian middle distance and steeplechase runner. She set both an Australian record and her personal best time of 9:18.35, by finishing third in the women's

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

at the 2008 IAAF Golden League Meeting in

Oslo, Norway Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of i ...

Career

Early in her career, MacFarlane won the Australian Under 20 titles over 800m, 1500m and cross country. In 2000, she won the senior bronze medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the

Australian Athletics Championships The Australian Athletics Championships or Australian Open Track and Field Championships are held annually to determine Australia's champion athletes in a range of athletics events. The championships are the primary qualification trial for athlete ...

, in the event's inaugural year for women. She struggled to improve her best times in her early twenties, however, and retired from athletics to focus on her career as a journalist. Five years later - married and with two children, MacFarlane resumed running as a personal goal to get fit and enter a fun run in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. Under new coach, Max Cherry, MacFarlane competed for the Sandy Bay Harriers Clu

- improving her best times over every distance from 400m to 10 km. One year after getting back into running, MacFarlane won a bronze medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

in Melbourne. Immediately following the Commonwealth Games, she helped Australia to a team bronze medal in the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. After a very successful international racing schedule, tragedy struck at the

2007 World Athletics Championships The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federat ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, Japan. The Chinese competitor accidentally caused MacFarlane's shoe to come off, which ultimately caused her to withdraw from the race due to severe blistering and injury to her foot. MacFarlane returned to world-class form in 2008, but a few months before the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, her coach, Max Cherry died at the age of 81. MacFarlane represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the

, where she competed in the first ever women's 3000 m steeplechase, along with her teammate Victoria Mitchell. She ran ninth in the third heat against fifteen other athletes, including Kenya's

Eunice Jepkorir Eunice Jepkorir Kertich (born 17 February 1982) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the steeplechase. She was the 2008 Olympic silver medalist in the event and bronze medalist at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics. She ...

and Russia's Yekaterina Volkova, who both later won the silver and bronze medals in the final, respectively. MacFarlane ended her international athletics competition with the

2009 World Athletics Championships The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. She maintains her involvement with Australian athletics and is also a creative and corporate writer.

References

External links

*
Profile – Australian Olympic Team
1977 births Living people Australian female steeplechase runners Australian female middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes from Melbourne World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Australian Athletics Championships winners {{Australia-athletics-bio-stub