Emily Maher competed in the women’s 4×400 metres relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

From Hugginstown, Co. Kilkenny, and a member of Kilkenny City Harriers, Maher had been one of the most exciting young sprinting talents in Europe. She burst onto the international scene aged 17 at the 1998 World Youth Olympics in Moscow, winning both the 100 metres and 200 metres – returning home to a fanfare reception at Dublin Airport – and the following year became the first Irish athlete to reach a sprint final at a World Junior Championships.

Coached by Olympic gold medallist Linford Christie from a chance meeting at a Dublin promotional event, she trained at his complex in Cardiff for six years alongside some of the world’s leading sprinters. Her road to the individual sprint events at Sydney was blocked by the late declaration of another Irish athlete for the 200 metres – her strongest event – but she made the Games as a relay squad member.

A chronic back injury subsequently hampered her career, though she competed at the 2006 World Indoor Championships and continued racing into her early thirties.