Lisa Frances Ondieki (née O'Dea, formerly Martin; born 12 May 1960) is an Australian former

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

. In the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

, she won the 1988 Olympic silver medal and two Commonwealth Games gold medals. Other marathon victories included the 1988

Osaka International Ladies Marathon The is an annual marathon road race for women over the classic distance of 42.195 kilometres which is held on the 4th or 5th Sunday of January in the city of Osaka, Japan, and hosted by Japan Association of Athletics Federations, Kansai T ...

and the 1992

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor) is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishe ...

. She also won the Great North Run Half Marathon three times. Her best time for the marathon of 2:23:51, set in 1988, made her the fourth-fastest female marathon runner in history at the time.

Career

Born Lisa O'Dea in

Gawler, South Australia Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the ...

, she attended

Gawler High School Gawler and District College is a public early learning centre and primary and secondary school located in the suburb of Evanston on the southern side of Gawler, north of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. The colle ...

. She was originally a 400 m

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

. Initially reluctant to take up the

, she won her first marathon competition, the Rocket City marathon in

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

USA in 1983, taking almost five minutes off the Australian record with her time of 2:32:22. In 1984, as Lisa Martin, she finished seventh in the inaugural women's Olympic marathon at the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. Her time of 2:29:03 was the first of her eleven sub 2:30 marathons. Three months later, she finished second in the

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a marathon (long-distance foot race) held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest r ...

, with a new personal best time of 2:27:40. At the 1985

Pittsburgh Marathon The Pittsburgh Marathon (also known as Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual road marathon usually held on the first Sunday in May in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States, first held in 1 ...

, she competed alongside her husband at the time, American distance runner Ken Martin; they became the fastest married couple ever in a marathon winning the men's and women's races in 2:12:57 and 2:31:54 respectively. Later that year, she finished second behind

Greta Waitz Grete Waitz (, 1 October 195319 April 2011) was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. In 1979, at the New York City Marathon, she became the first woman in history to run the marathon in under two and a half hours. Waitz wo ...

in the

. She won the gold medal in the marathon at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

in Edinburgh in a personal best of 2:26:07, with New Zealand's

Lorraine Moller Lorraine Mary Moller (born 1 June 1955) is a former athlete from New Zealand, who competed in track athletics and later specialised in the marathon. Moller's international career lasted over 20 years and included winning a silver medal in the m ...

in second. A month later, she won the first of her three

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the Simplyhealth Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and Sou ...

Half Marathon titles in a personal best of 69:45. She ended the 1986 season by again finishing second to Waitz in the New York Marathon. She finished second in the 1987 Osaka marathon, behind Moller, then failed to finish the 1987 World Championship marathon in Rome. In 1988, she ran her fastest ever marathon, when winning in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

with a time of 2:23:51, which at the time made her the fourth-fastest woman marathon runner in history, behind

Ingrid Kristiansen Ingrid Kristiansen (née Christensen on 21 March 1956) is a Norwegian former athlete. She was one of the best female long-distance runners during the 1980s. She is a former world record holder in the 5000 metres, 10,000 metres and the marathon ...

Joan Benoit Joan Benoit Samuelson (born May 16, 1957) is an American marathon runner who was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She held the fastest time for an American woma ...

and

Rosa Mota Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, GCIH, GCM (; born 29 June 1958) is a Portuguese former marathon runner, one of her country's foremost athletes, being the first sportswoman from Portugal to win Olympic gold. Mota was the first woman to win ...

. Later that year, she won a silver medal at the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in 2:25:53, 13 seconds behind Mota. In January 1990, she retained her

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

marathon title at the Auckland Games. In a solo performance, she finished over seven minutes ahead of silver medallist Australian team-mate Tani Ruckle. Her time of 2:25:28 remains a Games record (as of 2014). Divorced from Martin, she married Kenyan distance runner

Yobes Ondieki Yobes Ondieki (born February 21, 1961, in Kisii, Nyanza) is a Kenyan former 5000 m runner, who won the World Championships' gold medal in Tokyo 1991. In the same year he set a temporary Kenyan 5000 m record of 13:01.82 in Zurich. He partici ...

in 1990 and missed the rest of that season due to pregnancy, giving birth to their daughter in November 1990. In 1991, she achieved her third top three finish at the New York Marathon, finishing third in a race won by Scotland's

Liz McColgan Elizabeth Nuttall (née Lynch, formerly McColgan; born 24 May 1964) is a Scottish former middle-distance and long-distance track and road-running athlete. She won the gold medal for the 10,000 metres at the 1991 World Championships, and a ...

. In January 1992, she finished second in the Tokyo Half Marathon, running a lifetime best of 68:33, in a race won by McColgan in 67:11. In June, she ran her lifetime best 10,000 metres, running 31:11.72 in Helsinki. This time was the second fastest in the world in 1992, with only Olympic champion

Derartu Tulu Derartu Tulu NL COL ( om, Daraartuu Tulluu, Amharic: ደራርቱ ቱሉ; born 21 March 1972) is an Ethiopian former long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at ...

going faster (31:06). At the

1992 Barcelona Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, she failed to finish the marathon, having been one of the gold medal favourites. Three months later, she recovered to win the

, setting a course record of 2:24:40 that would last for nine years. In 1993, she competed in the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...

for the first time. In a heavily hyped head-to head with Liz McColgan, they both lost out to Germany's Katrin Dorre, with Ondieki second and McColgan third. In 1994, she again finished second to Dorre in London. In 1996, now divorced from Ondieki, she ran her fastest marathon time for three years with 2:30:57 in Osaka, to earn selection for her fourth and final Olympics. At the 1996 Atlanta Games, she failed to finish.

Recognition

Martin was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

in 1997. In 2000, she received an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

. In 2014, she was inducted into the

Athletics Australia Athletics Australia is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Sport Australia for the sport of athletics in Australia. First founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 registered ...

Hall of Fame.

International competitions

*All results regarding marathon, unless stated otherwise

Road races

References

External links

*
Lisa Frances Ondieki (O'Dea/Martin)
at Australian Athletics Historical Results * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Lisa 1960 births Living people Australian female long-distance runners Australian female marathon runners Sportswomen from South Australia People from Gawler, South Australia Olympic athletes of Australia Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia New York City Marathon female winners Australian Institute of Sport track and field athletes Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Oregon Ducks women's track and field athletes