At 15 she was already on the world stage, coming 5th at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
In 1990, at 17, she took gold at the African Championships. Maria is now a retired female track and field athlete. She was born in Maputo, hence the nickname of “The Maputo Express”.
She is the only athlete ever to hold Olympic, World, World indoor, Commonwealth, Continental Games and Continental Championships titles in the same event.
As a young girl Maria excelled in football and played with boys, as there were no leagues or teams for girls. In 1988, at only fifteen years of age, she was encouraged to take up athletics by one of Mozambique’s foremost literary figures.
Realizing her potential in running, she was persuaded to continue by her coach.
Mutola is often ranked as one of the greatest female 800 m runners of all time and to some even the best.
She has not gained a world record, but her consistency, her record at major championships and her ability to compete at the highest levels of the sport for well over a decade are unmatched.
During her career, Mutola was known to have blazing speed and a very strong finishing kick. She knew well how to calculate her moves so as to outdo her competitors by knowing their strength and weaknesses.
Her greatest moment came at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, when she finally won Olympic gold, beating her major rival Stephanie Graf and Kelly Holmes.
After the victory a road in Maputo was named after her in Maputo.
Mutola was unbeaten throughout 2003 and grabbed the headlines again that year, at the Memorial van Damme race in Belgium. Winning here meant that she became sole winner of the IAAF one million dollar jackpot, awarded to athletes who remained undefeated during the IAAF Golden League series of competitions. She put part of her winnings towards the foundation that she had established in her name in Mozambique.
Lurdes Mutola Foundation aims to bring more young Mozambicans to sport and to assist in helping them achieve their sporting and educational potential
She was appointed an honorary United Nations youth ambassador in 2003 at a ceremony in Maputo, in recognition of her outstanding athletic achievements.
She publicly called an end to her 21-year-long athletics career in 2008.
After retiring from athletics she returned to her first sporting love, football. She played for Mamelodi Sundowns team in the South African women’s league.
In 2011 she became captain of the Mozambique women’s national football team at the All-Africa Games in Maputo.
In 2012 she coached South African runner Caster Semenya to a silver medal at the Olympic Games in London.
