Over the past four years, Diane Cummins has established herself as an international force in the women1s 800-metres.
In 2004, she wants to reach a new level by stepping on the podium at a major international event such as the Olympics.
She was sixth at the outdoor worlds last year and posted Canada's best result at the 2001 worlds in Edmonton by placing fifth. She holds the Canadian record in the 800 at 1:58.39 set in 2001 at an international meet in Italy. She is only one of two Canadian women to post a sub-two minute time in the event.
Cummins was born and raised in South Africa where she set several high school records in running. But she stopped racing for six years after high school. She joined her parents in Canada in 1994 (they had left a year and half earlier when her father landed a job in Vancouver) and decided to join a track club to make new friends.
She represented her new homeland for the first time at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
