Quick facts about Rosa Mota

Former marathon runner Rosa Mota was born and reared in Portugal. She was the first athlete from Portugal to win an Olympic gold medal in 1988, which were held in Seoul, South Korea. She has won numerous more marathons, titles, and championships in addition to this one. Not to add that Rosa has had sciatica and asthma since she was a youngster, yet none of it could stand in the way of her achievement. Marathon and other sports were not as well-known back then as they are now. Additionally, she found it challenging to pursue her vocation because of her gender.

Rosa was putting a lot of effort into her ascent to the top, but as the saying goes, anything is possible if you are passionate about your goal and willing to sacrifice anything for it. Rosa is now well-known for her accomplishments and success in the Marathon as a result.

How much is the net worth of Rosa Mota?

Rosa Mota has not yet disclosed her income or salary. But she does have a $3 to $5 million net worth. Numerous companies sponsored her when she was active. The Portuguese government had also given her grants and honors. She does, however, have plenty of money to live life to the utmost. She must like it because she has no interest in any expensive possessions like a vehicle, yacht, etc.

Early Life, Family, and Education | Rosa Mota

Rosa was born and reared in Porto, a significant Portuguese city. She had access to all the facilities she required because she was reared in such a large metropolis. During her active years, she said that she also participated in other sports. Since she was a teenager, she has excelled at swimming and cycling.

Although Rosa had asthma when she was young, which may have been a significant obstacle to her desire, it was never a problem for her. Rosa began to run in an effort to get over her dread of the dark. Although there is no connection between jogging and darkness, she found that it gave her a sense of serenity and relaxation. Rosa suffered asthma and sciatica since she was a little child, yet those conditions couldn’t stand in the way of her success.

Mota had a brother and a sister as siblings. After her brother, she is the second youngest child in her family. Additionally, there is no basic information accessible regarding her parents or siblings. She is white, and her parents were devout Christians. Rosa had to overcome some obstacles in her early career because her parents were uneducated.

Being a sportsperson back then wasn’t as manageable for women as it is today. At Oporto British School, Mota finished her high school studies in 1976. She competed in cross-country events while she was a high school student, while there isn’t much information available about her academic career. She graduated from high school but didn’t pursue further education by going to college. Following her high school graduation in 1976, she began training for marathons.

Rosa Mota | Body Type Prognosis

On June 29, 1958, Rosa was born in Porto, Portugal. Age 64 describes her. She is a tall woman, standing at 5 feet 2 inches. Because she is an athlete, she has maintained her weight and physical fitness. She weighs 99 pounds or 45 kg. She had always been a small person, both in terms of height and weight, ever since she was a young child. Her career benefited from her modest size and weight. Nothing is known about her body measurements.

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Rosa Mota | Career

Portuguese Marathon racer Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, also known as Rosa Mota, is considered the elite female marathon runner of all time. During her time, she ran a total of 21 races in 10 years between 1982 and 1992. Out of which, she won 14 races for which she is considered as the greatest of all time.

Rosa was honored with the Abebe Bikila Award in recognition of contributions to the development of long-distance race training by the United Nations(UN) (UN). She is also known as the Muhammad Ali of the marathon. Despite her suffering from asthma, she managed to win several marathons and world championships.

Olympics

In the early days, Rosa was into cross country races and made a national record in 300 meters and 1500 meters. But later on, she found long races and marathons more exciting and decided to move on to it, which eventually went pretty well for her. Rosa was the first female athlete to get the gold medal in Olympics for Portugal. At the Seoul Olympics in 1988, she accomplished her dream of a Gold medal.

Rosa beat the silver medalist Lisa Martin by 13 seconds. She created history by becoming the first female to win gold in Olympics for Portugal. Since then, she never had to look behind her career. Seoul Olympics wasn’t the first Olympics she participated in. She partook in the Olympics games since 1984. In the Los Angeles Olympics, Rosa won the bronze medal for her country. Apart from the Olympics, she represented her country in various world stages and won different titles.

European Championships Career

Rosa started her career as a marathon runner professionally on the European championship in the year 1982, which was held in Athens, Greece. She was successful in notching gold for her country on her first-ever marathon. European Championship was again held in 1986, which was hosted by Germany, in which she again was successful in winning the title.

It was her second time in a row as the European champion. Rosa Mota was winning titles, gold and conquering every marathon race. In 1990, she again won gold in the European championship. Split, Croatia, hosted it. She became the only female athlete to  win the European Athletics Championship three consecutive times. This was her third time winning the European title. She was making records on every step of her career.

World Championships and Other Achievements

In 1983, the year after she was a European champion, Rosa took part in the world championship, which didn’t go so well that she finished fourth. It was one of the worst results of her career. But she wasn’t the one to accept the failure and rest. She trained herself so well that she won the Gold at the 1987 World Championship held in Rome.

As we are talking about World Championship, Rosa participated in the 1991 World championship. But luck was not on her side this time, since her childhood illness Asthma caused problems. Due to which she couldn’t finish the marathon and be compelled to leave the track. It was all because of her sickness.

Apart from the Olympics, European championships, and world championships, the Portuguese participated in other marathons during her active years. Rosa won the Boston marathon three times in 1987, 1988, and 1990 consecutively which was not everyone’s cup of tea. She won the Chicago Marathon of 1983 and 1984. In 1982 she won the Rotterdam marathon.

She won the Osaka Marathon of 1990. In the Los Angeles marathon of 1989, she finished second. Mota finished third in the Chicago marathon of 1985 and won the bronze medal. After that, Rosa also won the London marathon in 1991. It was the last marathon she won. She participated in some other marathons, but sadly, she couldn’t win any.

Rosa Mota | Marriage and Kids

Rosa Mota has been married to her husband for more than 40 years. Jose Pedrosa is her husband’s name. Jose is also a Marathoner by profession. During training in Oporto, they  first met. After training together for some years, they fell in love.

In 1980, they finally decided to marry and stay together. Since then, they have been together without any dispute. However, Rosa and Jose don’t have any children. At her prime time i.e., 1980-1990, the avid runner was focused on her career and had no thoughts of bearing a child. Her husband was also so supportive, so he didn’t force her. They both were educated, and it was not a big issue.

Social Media Presence

Rosa Mota has no presence in any of the social media. And we can predict that she won’t be joining in the future too.