Rosa Mota

Rosa Mota

Rosa Mota in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota
Born	(1958-06-29) 29 June 1958 (age 66) Porto, Portugal
Height	5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)
Weight	99 lb (45 kg)
Sport
Sport	Track and field athletics
Event	Marathon
Retired	1992
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals	1988 – Gold
Medal record Women's Athletics Representing  Portugal Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Marathon 1984 Los Angeles Marathon World Championships 1987 Rome Marathon European Championships 1982 Athens Marathon 1986 Stuttgart Marathon 1990 Split Marathon

Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, GCIH, GCM (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁɔzɐ ˈmɔtɐ]; born 29 June 1958) is a Portuguese former marathon runner, one of her country's foremost athletes, being the first sportswoman from Portugal to win Olympic gold. Mota was the first woman to win multiple Olympic marathon medals as well as being the only woman to be the reigning European, World, and Olympic champion at the same time. On the 30th Anniversary Gala of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) she was distinguished as the greatest female marathon runner of all time.^[1]

Born in Porto's downtown neighbourhood of Foz Velha, Rosa started participating in cross-country races while in high school.

In 1980 she met José Pedrosa, the man who would eventually be her personal trainer for her entire career. Rosa Mota's first marathon was at the European Championships of 1982, hosted by Athens, Greece - the first Women's Marathon ever. Mota was not one of the favourites for gold, but she easily beat Ingrid Kristiansen to win her first marathon.

This success was typical of Rosa Mota's career, as she usually finished well in the prestigious marathons. She was awarded the bronze medal in the first Women's Olympic Marathon in the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Her personal best time was 2:23:29 in the 1985 Chicago Marathon.^[2] Mota won the Chicago Marathon twice.

European Champion in 1986, and World Champion in Rome, 1987, she kept on winning with the Olympic gold medal in Seoul 1988, where with 2 km left in the race, she attacked, winning by 13 seconds from silver medalist Lisa Martin.

In 1990, she returned to Boston to win for a third time beating Uta Pippig. After that she attempted to defend her European Marathon Championship in Split. She ran from the front and had a lead of over 1.5 minutes at the half way mark, but she was caught at the 35 km mark by Valentina Yegorova. They battled to the finish and Mota won by a slim margin of five seconds. As of 2006, winning a third European Championships marathon was unprecedented for both men and women. She won the 1991 Lisbon Half Marathon^[3]

Despite all her success Rosa Mota was suffering from sciatica and asthma as a child, yet, in 1991, she continued winning, this time the London Marathon. Later that year, Mota had to abandon the Tokyo World championships and she finally considered retirement after failing to finish the 1992 London Marathon.

Mota ran 21 marathon races between 1982 and 1992. She averaged two marathons a year for a decade and won 14 of those races.

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Portugal
1982	European Championships	Athens, Greece	1st	Marathon	2:36:04
1983	Rotterdam Marathon	Rotterdam, the Netherlands	1st	Marathon	2:32:27
	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	4th	Marathon	2:31:50
	Chicago Marathon	Chicago, United States	1st	Marathon	2:31:12
1984	Olympic Games	Los Angeles, United States	3rd	Marathon	2:26:57
	Chicago Marathon	Chicago, United States	1st	Marathon	2:26:01
1985	Chicago Marathon	Chicago, United States	3rd	Marathon	2:23:29
1986	Tokyo Marathon	Tokyo, Japan	1st	Marathon	2:27:15
	European Championships	Stuttgart, West Germany	1st	Marathon	2:28:38
1987	Boston Marathon	Boston, United States	1st	Marathon	2:25:21
	World Championships	Rome, Italy	1st	Marathon	2:25:17
1988	Boston Marathon	Boston, United States	1st	Marathon	2:24:30
	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	1st	Marathon	2:25:40
1989	Osaka Marathon	Osaka, Japan	--	Marathon	DNF
	Los Angeles Marathon	Los Angeles, United States	2nd	Marathon	2:35:27
1990	Osaka Marathon	Osaka, Japan	1st	Marathon	2:27:47
	Boston Marathon	Boston, United States	1st	Marathon	2:25:24
	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	1st	Marathon	2:31:27
1991	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	1st	Marathon	2:26:14
	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	--	Marathon	DNF
	Lisbon Half Marathon	Lisbon, Portugal	1st	Half marathon	1:09:52
1992	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	--	Marathon	DNF

Considered an Ambassador of Sport, in 1998 she won the Abebe Bikila Award for contributions to the development of long-distance race training. The trophy was awarded at the end of the International Race for Friendship, sponsored by the United Nations, taking place in the morning before the 1998 New York City Marathon.

Rosa Mota was one of the most popular personalities of Portuguese sport in the late 20th century, alongside Eusébio, Carlos Lopes and Luís Figo.

Rosa Mota carried the Olympic flame along the roads of Athens before the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece.