Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, GCIH, GCM (; 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.
Biography 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. 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 halfway 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 Championship marathon was unprecedented for both men and women. She won the 1991 Lisbon Half Marathon
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.
Achievements Representing 1982European ChampionshipsAthens, Greece 1stMarathon2:36:041983Rotterdam MarathonRotterdam, the Netherlands 1stMarathon2:32:27World ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland4thMarathon2:31:50Chicago MarathonChicago, United States 1stMarathon2:31:121984Olympic GamesLos Angeles, United States 3rd Marathon2:26:57Chicago MarathonChicago, United States 1stMarathon2:26:011985Chicago MarathonChicago, United States 3rdMarathon2:23:291986Tokyo MarathonTokyo, Japan 1stMarathon2:27:15European ChampionshipsStuttgart, West Germany 1stMarathon2:28:381987Boston MarathonBoston, United States 1stMarathon2:25:21World ChampionshipsRome, Italy 1stMarathon2:25:171988Boston MarathonBoston, United States 1stMarathon2:24:30Olympic GamesSeoul, South Korea 1stMarathon2:25:401989Osaka MarathonOsaka, Japan --MarathonDNFLos Angeles MarathonLos Angeles, United States 2ndMarathon2:35:271990Osaka MarathonOsaka, Japan 1stMarathon2:27:47Boston MarathonBoston, United States 1stMarathon2:25:24European ChampionshipsSplit, Yugoslavia 1stMarathon2:31:271991London MarathonLondon, United Kingdom 1stMarathon2:26:14World ChampionshipsTokyo, Japan --MarathonDNFLisbon Half MarathonLisbon, Portugal 1stHalf marathon1:09:521992London MarathonLondon, United Kingdom --MarathonDNF
After retirement
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. A Sports Pavilion in Porto was named after her in 1991.
Rosa Mota carried the Olympic flame along the roads of Athens before the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece.
In recent years Rosa Mota has returned to competitions, winning the Macau mini-marathon (6.3km) 4 times (2018, 2019, 2023 and 2024) and breaking the 10.000m record for women 65-69 year old multiple times with a best time of 35:37 in the Lisbon São Silvestre race.
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