Was an Australian athlete. She was best known for winning the marathon at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Background
In August 2007, McCann, who was expecting her third child announced that she was being treated for breast cancer spread to her liver. After having surgery to remove the lump, she was then induced, giving birth to son Cooper on 5 September 2007 (6 weeks premature). On 7 December 2008, at the age of 41, McCann sadly lost her battle and passed away.
Career
McCann had an early interest in athletics, winning the New South Wales primary school cross country championship in 1979. However, McCann gave up competitive athletics until taking it up again near the end of high school, running her first marathon at the age of seventeen. At age 19 she ran the marathon at the Australian Championships, placing 3rd.
At the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, McCann placed tenth in the marathon, and at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States, she finished 28th.
McCann took a break from professional competition for the birth of her first son, returning in 1999. At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, McCann finished eleventh in the marathon. On running into the packed Sydney Stadium the crowd erupted. Later in the year she placed fifth in the London Marathon, in a time of 2:25.59, her personal best and an Australian record. She achieved a seventh place in the New York Marathon in 2002. McCann's best result in international competition came later in 2002 at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, United Kingdom, where she won gold ahead of fellow Australians, Krishna Stanton and Jackie Gallagher.
McCann again took a break from competition for the birth of her daughter, before commencing training in late 2003 and returning to competition in 2004, competing in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, finishing 31st in the marathon.