ONE OF THEGREATSAdrian Hill looks back over the success ofPortuguese legend Rosa MotaThe 1980’s was a time of greatadvances in women’s distance<strong>running</strong>. A pastime that hadbeen seen as something forthe quirky few, was becoming mainstreamthanks to initiatives such as the LondonMarathon and the acceptance that thefemale of the species were eminentlycapable of <strong>running</strong> beyond threekilometres at major championship level.A LEAP FORWARDAt the forefront of this advance was adiminutive woman from Portugal knownby the lyrical name of Rosa Mota. Atalented performer in cross-country inher native land, Mota was made fortougher tasks on the road. Her lightframe and abundant determination wasideal for floating over the tarmac. In1982, at the age of 24, she won the firstever major women’s marathon title, theEuropean Championship in Athens. Itwas a remarkable achievement in herfirst attempt at the classic distance, withthe apparently all-conquering IngridKristiansen in the field. Mota cruised tovictory in 2:36.03.Mota improved further in 1983,posting an impressive 2:32.27 win inRotterdam, and ducked under 2:32 inthe inaugural World Championship inHelsinki but, like everyone else that dayin the Finnish capital, had to bow to thelate, great Grete Waitz.SERIOUS CONTENDERConsolation came from another terrificperformance in claiming the ChicagoMarathon with yet another PB of 2:31.12.Mota would be a serious contenderfor the first Olympic marathon inLos Angeles.The competition in California wasstiff, though. Waitz lined up alongsidehome favourite Joan Benoit, who had seta new World Best time in the 1983Boston Marathon. The enormity of theoccasion was suffocating for many; thiswas an event female distance runnershad been waiting for, could Mota writeher name indelibly into history as thefirst Olympic champion?OLYMPIC OPENERThe women’s marathon was the firstathletics event of the 1984 Games.Benoit made a surprise early move at7K and was allowed to go by the pack,with Waitz and Mota believing that theAmerican could not possibly sustain thepace in the heat and acrid air of LosAngeles. But Benoit built an insurmountablelead and held on to win by over a minute.Waitz came second and Mota claimed thebronze in a new PB of 2:26.57.Remarkably, Mota took part in the3,000 metres heats just three days afterher marathon exertions. Not surprisingly,she failed to qualify for a final whichbecame one of the most controversialevents in Olympic history due to thecoming-together of Mary Decker andZola Budd.Mota retained her Chicago title, butwas forced into third place in 1985behind Benoit. However, Mota set yetanother PB 2:23.29 – she had run fasterin each successive marathon at thehighest level of competition, a supremeachievement.After winning in Tokyo, Mota retainedher European title in Stuttgart in 1986and her preparations for the 1987 WorldChampionship included a first victoryin the famous Boston Marathon. Motawas at her peak and her performancein Rome at the Worlds cemented herplace as one of the greats of her event.She stormed away from the field to winby the massive margin of seven minutesin 2:25.17.The Boston title was retained in1988 and then sights were set onSeoul, where she aimed to completeher major gold medal haul in thesecond Olympic women’s marathon.Mota was locked together withAustralia’s Lisa Martin and Katrin Dorrefrom East Germany at the 40K mark.She felt this was the time to strike andgradually eked out a gap that herpursuers failed to close. Mota becamethe first woman to win both the Worldand Olympic titles.In 1990, she won Boston for a thirdtime and made a bid for a thirdsuccessive European crown in Split inthe then-Yugoslavia. This time hertactics were to attempt to do whatBenoit had done in 1984, set sail forhome early in the race. She was caughtat the 35K mark by Soviet runnerValentina Yegorova. Lesser competitorswould have faded but Mota keptbattling and out-stayed Yegorova to winby just five seconds. Three straightEuropean victories wereunprecedented by any marathonrunner, male or female.TIME TO RETIREMota’s triumph in the 1991 LondonMarathon meant that apart from NewYork (where she never competed) thePortuguese legend had won all themost prestigious races.Her career faded thereafter. Herattempt to retain the World title in1991 at the age of 32 foundered in theintense humidity of Tokyo and she alsofailed to finish her final race in1992 inLondon. Retirement brought officialrecognition of her status within thesport with the honour of the AbebeBikila Award for contributions tothe development of long-distancerace training.46 www.<strong>running</strong>freemag.co.uk
RUNNERSA talented performer incross-country in her nativeland, Mota was made fortougher tasks on the road.www.<strong>running</strong>freemag.co.uk 47
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