After 21 glittering years of athletics career, Maria Mutola, who dominated the 800m women event with titles from an Olympic gold to being a 10 time World Champion, the 35 year old Mozambique 800m runner known as the ‘Maputo Express’ has ended her international career at the “Weltklasse Zürich – ÅF Golden League meet” in Switzerland yesterday Sensing her pace is not what it used to be, Mutola started the race in the pack. But as she lapped the final turn of her last 800m race, she moved up from her seventh spot to finally end the race in fourth position at the Weltklasse meet. The race was won by Kenya’s Olympic teenage champion Pamela Jelimo in a time of 1:54.01, the third fastest 800m ever ran by a woman, a new WJR and African record It was evident despite finishing fourth in a respectable time of 1:58.70, her 200th sub-2min timing infact, and a far cry from her personal best of 1:55.19, Mutola was smiling as she crossed the line, basking in the 26,000 crowds applause. A highly popular figure at the Letzigrund Stadium where she won her straight 12 wins in the event here, she gave an emotional last media interview, quoted as “It was very emotional and sad” on her retirement Mutola who earlier this month competed in her sixth Olympic Games 800m women finals where she finished fifth in a season best of 1:57.68, she decided to run her last race in Switzerland as she considers Weltklasse her ‘second’ home Mutola was a former a star soccer player in her youth before receiving a bursary from the Olympic Solidarity Committee to school and train at Eugene Oregon, USA. There she developed into a world class runner, competing at her first Olympics at the age of 15 years old and the rest is history …
Best times
800 m honours
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