Deirdre Ryan competed for Ireland in the women's high jump at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
A member of Dundrum South Dublin AC, her breakthrough came at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, where she set a new Irish record of 1.95 metres to qualify for the final and finished joint sixth - later upgraded to fifth when a Russian competitor was disqualified.
She had studied International Commerce with Italian at UCD and an MBS at UCD Smurfit Graduate Business School, and trained under coach Gerd Osenberg in Leverkusen, Germany, learning German in the process - having previously worked and trained in Milan having learned Italian.
She was named Irish Times Sportswoman of the Month for August 2011 following her Daegu performance.
Athletics
