Rooney was selected to compete at national and international levels, finishing fourth in the British Championships, but did not feel passionate about the sport and changed to pole vault in 2000.
[4] She competed at her first Olympic Games at Beijing 2008 and was knocked out in seventh place in the second heats but set a new outdoor personal best of 4.40 m.[5] Following this she had surgery on both her Achilles,[6] but this did not affect her form in the next season – she broke the national indoor record, beating Janine Whitlock's seven-year-old record, with a jump of 4.45 m at the 2009 UK Indoor Championships in Sheffield,[7] and bettered that mark by another centimeter at the Birmingham Games a week later.
[8] Following a successful indoor season, Rooney broke the British record in June with a vault of 4.51 m at the Memorial Josefa Odlozila meeting in Prague.
[10] After a win at the UK national championships with 4.57 m, she noted the difficulty of the competition she faced in Berlin: several athletes from Germany, Poland, and Russia, including reigning champion Yelena Isinbayeva, were in the running for a medal.
Since retiring, Rooney has worked in schools and encouraged children's involvement in sport, whilst beginning a further career path in financial services and advice.