Madeline Heiner (born 15 May 1987) is an Australian

runner Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

. She placed fourth 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

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

Biography

Heiner was born in

Shellharbour, New South Wales Shellharbour (also known as Shellharbour Village) is a suburb located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It also gives its name to the local government area, City of Shellharbour, and its central business district, Shellhar ...

on 15 May 1987. She took up running seriously in 2002; as a 17-year-old, she represented Australia in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

at the 2004 World Junior Championships in

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the Ombrone river. It is the m ...

, but was eliminated in the heats. At the

Commonwealth Youth Games The Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) is an international multi-sport event organized by the Commonwealth Games Federation. The games were held in the years, mid-way between when the Commonwealth Games are held, until 2008. They continued to be held ...

in December 2004 she won gold in the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

and bronze in the

. In 2005, she was Australian under-20

cross-country Cross country or cross-country may refer to: Places * Cross Country, Baltimore, a neighborhood in northwest Baltimore, Maryland * Cross County Parkway, an east–west parkway in Westchester County, NY * Cross County Shopping Center, a mall in Yo ...

champion and placed 16th in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships in

Saint-Galmier Saint-Galmier () is a city in eastern France. It is a commune in Loire department, and belongs to the arrondissement of Montbrison. Saint-Galmier covers an area of 19.5 square kilometers. As of January 1, 2018, it had a population of 5,737, rank ...

. She competed in the World Cross Country Championships again in 2006, this time placing 18th in the junior race, but missed the

IAAF World Junior Championships The World Athletics U20 Championships is a biennial world championships for the sport of athletics organised by the World Athletics, contested by athletes in the under-20 athletics age category (19 years old or younger on 31 December in the yea ...

later that year due to an injury. She studied

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

and did not return to the track after recovering from the injury. In the summer of 2013, actively working as a pharmacist while also continuing her studies, Heiner decided to resume running. She joined the training group of coach Adam Didyk; her first race back was in January 2014, after a hiatus of almost eight years. Her times improved rapidly, and she met her initial goal of qualifying for the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

; she represented Australia in the

, placing fourth in a personal best 9:34.01. Encouraged by the good results, Heiner continued her comeback with an eye on the 2015 World Championships in

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 ...

and the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. She became Australian senior champion for the first time in 2015, winning the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

title; the race was held at the

Sydney Track Classic The Sydney Track Classic is an annual outdoor track and field meeting held in February or March at the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney, Australia. It is part of the national Australian Athletics T ...

rather than as part of the main championship meet, and Heiner placed second behind Kenya's Magdalene Masai but was the top Australian in 15:21.09. She was briefly the 2015 world leader in the 3000 m steeplechase after winning at the

Melbourne Track Classic 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 metropol ...

in a personal best 9:31.03. She improved her times further at the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

meetings in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

(6th in 9:28.41) and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

(5th in 9:21.56); the latter time ranked her second behind Donna MacFarlane on the Australian all-time list. Heiner was selected for the 2015 World Championships in both the steeplechase and the 5000 metres. Heiner was selected for the

in both the

3000 m steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 metres, which derives its name from the h ...

and the

. She placed seventh in the steeplechase final with a personal best of 9:20:38 and tenth in the 5000m final with a personal best of 15:04.05.Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics
. Rio2016.com (21 May 2016). Retrieved 5 September 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heiner, Madeline 1987 births Living people Sportswomen from New South Wales Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Australian female steeplechase runners Australian female long-distance runners Australian pharmacists World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Australia Women pharmacists 21st-century Australian women