Amantle Montsho: The unbeatable Zebra

Posted by: FS Posted date : 19 July 2012 at 11:56 AM 3 views In: Olympic games

Montsho entered the international realm 2004 during the Olympic Games of Athens, Greece where she was eliminated after a sixth position in the first round heats.

Pushed by a strong zeal of success, she left her fatherland for the international athletics center of Dakar, Senegal in 2005 in a quest for better training conditions.

After training for a year in Senegal, she went for her first African championships 2006 in Bambous, Mauritius and smelted her first silver medal in the champions in 52.68 seconds. In 2007 she failed at the semis of the World Championships of Osaka (Japan), despite setting a national record (50.90s).

Her first gold medal came in 2008 during the African Championships of Addis-Ababa. In 49.83 seconds she set a new championship record while beating that of Botswana which she had set the previous year.

Still In 2008 she ran in the final of the Beijing Olympics tailing the race at the eighth position with a time of 51.18 s. She somewhat bounced back at the end of the year in the world championships of Stuttgart, Germany where she ranged fourth and fourth world performance of the year.

The most fulfilling moments of her career, unarguably, are 2010 and 2011 when she won her most distinguishing titles. In 2010 she won her second consecutive title in the African championships of Nairobi, Kenya before win silver in the 2010 IAAF Diamond League with 10 points. In 2011 she was unstoppable: she won the Diamond league after winning last four stages before crowing the year with a world title in Daegu(South Korea). In September of the same year she won gold at the all African games of Maputo.

In the 2012 set beat her 2008 record in Nairobi during the Championships of Porto-Novo Benin.

Honours

2006: silver; 400 m 52 s 68; African Championships Bambous (Mauritius); 400m

2007: gold; 51.13s; All African Games Alger (Algeria); 400m

2008: gold; 49. 83s African Championships Addis-Ababa (Ethiopia); 400 m

2010:-silver; 10 points; Diamond league; 400m

2010: gold; 49.89s; Continental Split (Croatia); 400m

2010: gold; 50.10s; Commonwealth Games Delhi (India); 400m

2011: gold; 49.56s; World Championships; Daegu (South Korea); 400m

2011: gold; 50.87s; All African Games; Maputo (Mozambique)

2011: gold; diamond league; 400m

2012: gold; 49.54s; African Championships Porto Novo (Benin); 400m