Rosa Mota was one of the trail blazers in women's marathoning. In her first marathon, at the 1982 European Championships, Rosa Mota won the gold medal, running 2:36:04 and defeating one Ingrid Kristiensen. Rosa then took bronze in the first Olympic marathon for women, in 1984, behind Joan Benoit Samuelson and Grete Waitz.
Rosa Mota, AIMS event, photo by PhotoRun.net
Rosa Mota would go on to win golds in 1986 Europeans in Stuttgart and 1990 Europeans in Split. By then, she was also the Olympic gold medalist, having added an Olympic gold medal in 1988.
For her breadth of racing, and for her championing of the women's Marathon, AIMS gave Rosa Mota the AIMS Lifeteime Award in 2017. Here is the interview that Andy Edwards of Race News Service did with her this past week in Athens, Greece.
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