Cara Feain-Ryan

Since missing the Tokyo Olympic Team, Brisbane’s Cara Feain-Ryan has been making good progress with some breakthrough performances in 2023.

Cara grew-up in the Northern NSW town of Alstonville where she started running at primary school.

With no specific running squad, she would often jog with her mother or friends. She also joined the local triathlon squad for some runs. She also trained for swimming and played netball and water polo.

Her first success was in cross country, but later in track when aged 15 she made her first national championships.

Aged 16 she was showing impressive form in the 2000m steeplechase. She also made a big change moving schools from Lismore to Brisbane. It was a good move as she met her current coach Ben Norton and was soon down to 6:40 in the steeplechase when winning the national U18 title. The win was a turning point for Cara as it helped her decide to pursue athletics after she left school.

During 2020 and 2021, in pursuit of Olympic selection, she carved 45 seconds from her 3000m steeplechase best, now down to 9:36. But would just miss selection.

But in 2022 she would make her Australian debut at the world championships. It seemed to inspire her for 2023 where she was unbeatable in Australia, winning the national title and key Brisbane Track Classic race.

Selected for the World University Games in China, she was brilliant in the heat and humidity sprinting home over the last lap to victory. 

The confidence running for Cara continued when three weeks later at the Budapest world championships she clocked a six seconds PB time of 9:29.60, moving from 10th to 6th Australian all-time. She placed seventh in her heat, requiring top-5 to progress to the final.

Her 2024 campaign included third at nationals and second at the Oceania Championships, gaining sufficient points to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

Cara manages her busy running schedule with studying a Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours) at University of Queensland and coaching teenage girls at her former school.

She describes to coaching as more than a job, but an opportunity to give back to her sport by helping inspire and mentor a new generation of young sportswomen. She says it also provides a constant source of motivation for her own training.