Margaret Ngotho (born 25 June 1970) is a Kenyan former long-distance runner who competed in

cross-country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

and track events. Her highest achievement was a bronze medal in the short race at the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

in 2000. She was three times a team medalist at the competition for Kenya, winning gold in 1991 and 1995 then finally silver in 2001. She was a double bronze medallist at the

African Championships in Athletics The African Championships in Athletics is a continental athletics event organized by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), the continental association for the sport in Africa. Since its inaugural edition in 1979 it was at first organise ...

in 1990, running the 3000 metres and the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

. She was a three-time Kenyan champion, winning at both track distances and once in short cross country.

Career

Ngotho made her first international appearance at the

1988 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1988 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Auckland, New Zealand, at the Ellerslie Racecourse on March 26, 1988. A report on the event was given in the ''Glasgow Herald''. Complete results for men, junior men, women, meda ...

, but was by far the slowest Kenyan performer in 96th place. She rose to prominence at the 1990 African Championships in Athletics where she was the double bronze medallist in the

and 3000 metres. She was the Kenyan champion in both those events that year.Kenyan Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-10-23. Her first medal on the global stage followed at the

1991 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1991 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Antwerp, Belgium, at the Linkeroever Racecourse on March 24, 1991. A report on the event was given in ''The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or th ...

and her eighth-place finish brought her a gold medal with the Kenyan women's team (which included namesake Jane Ngotho, Susan Sirma and

Pauline Konga Pauline Konga (born 10 April 1970) is a retired Kenyan long-distance runner. At the 1996 Summer Olympics she won the silver medal in the 5,000 metres, making her the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic medal.Post-Gazette, May 6, 2002Th ...

). Ngotho ran on the European

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ...

circuit in the early 1990s and had wins at the 1993 Alsterlauf Hamburg and the 1994 Kerzerslauf. After a win at the Cross Pradelle, she returned to international competition at the 1995 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and her fourth-place finish behind compatriot Sally Barsosio brought her another team gold medal. Running on the track circuit that year she set two lifetime bests: she ran 15:24.53 minutes for the 5000 metres in

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the international Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service. Popu ...

and a 3000 m best of 8:50.09 minutes brought her eighth place at the 1995 IAAF Grand Prix Final in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

.Maargaret Ngotho
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-10-23. She remained a top-ten finisher at European track meets over the next few years.Margaret Ngotho
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2014-10-23. The introduction of a shorter distance race at the 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships played to Ngotho's strengths and, following a win at the

Kenyan Cross Country Championships The Kenyan Cross Country Championships is an annual cross country running competition that serves as the national championship for Kenya. It is organised by Athletics Kenya and has permit race status from the International Association of Athletics ...

, she had the greatest success of her career in the form of a bronze medal. She was narrowly beaten by both

Kutre Dulecha Kutre Dulecha (born August 22, 1978 in Sidamo) is a middle distance runner from Ethiopia. She mainly competes in 1500 metres, where she set a world junior record in 1997. She became world indoor champion in 2004, Ethiopia's first ever women's 1 ...

and

Zahra Ouaziz Zahra Ouaziz ( ar, زهرة واعزيز) (born December 20, 1969 in Oulmes) is a retired Moroccan long-distance runner. She was the African record holder at 3000 metres and 5000 metres. Career Ouaziz broke the 5000 metres African Record i ...

in a

sprint finish In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

, recording the same time as the other athletes, and just one second ahead of fourth-placed

Paula Radcliffe Paula Jane Radcliffe MBE (born 17 December 1973) is a former British long-distance runner. She is a three-time winner of the London Marathon (2002, 2003, 2005), three-time New York Marathon champion (2004, 2007, 2008), and 2002 Chicago Marath ...

. This performance also coincided with a poor Kenyan team performance in fourth, with Sally Barsosio the only other Kenyan in the top ten. Maintaining her good form, she won the Pune Half Marathon with a best of 68:10 minutes, as well as the Cross Internacional de Soria in November.Soria course profile
.

Real Federación Española de Atletismo The Royal Spanish Athletics Federation (Spanish: ''Real Federación Española de Atletismo'', RFEA), is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Spain. As of 2020, the federation has 1,411 registered clubs and 89,470 federated athlets. His ...

. Retrieved on 2009-11-29. A team silver in an

Edith Masai Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and va ...

-led Kenyan women's team came as part of her final international appearance (and fifth at the tournament) at the

2001 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2001 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 24/25, 2001. The races were held at the Hippodrome Wellington in Ostend (Oostende), Belgium. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', in the ''Herald ...

, where she came tenth. A best in the

10K run 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

followed a month later via a win in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

. After a quiet 2002, she was a frequent competitor on the track in Europe in 2003. Highlights included a 1500 m win at the

FBK Games The FBK Games is an annual track and field event at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Stadion in Hengelo, Netherlands as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1981. Its name honours Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four gold med ...

and a lifetime best of 4:07.38 minutes for third at the Seville Athletics Grand Prix. She set further bests of 4:32.65 minutes for the

mile run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

and 5:41.02 minutes for the

2000 metres The 2000 metres or 2000-metre run is a track running event where five laps are completed around an outdoor 400 m track, or ten laps around a 200 m indoor track - the distance is 11.68 meters short of 1¼ miles. The global governing body World Ath ...

at the

Golden Spike Ostrava Golden Spike ( cz, Zlatá tretra) is an annual athletics event at the Městský Stadion in Ostrava- Vítkovice, Czech Republic as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1961. The history of the meeting was interru ...

. There were also top three placings at the

Notturna di Milano Notturna di Milano ( en, Night in Milan) is an annual track and field meeting which is held in September at the Arena Civica in Milan, Italy. First held in 1998, the meeting received IAAF permit meeting status the following year. In its earlier ye ...

and

Osaka Grand Prix The Golden Grand Prix Osaka is an international athletics competition in Osaka, Japan, held in May at the Yanmar Stadium Nagai , known as the Yanmar Stadium Nagai ( ja, ヤンマースタジアム長居) for sponsorship reasons, is a stadium ...

meetings. After lower level performances in 2004, she retired from competition.

Personal bests

– 4:07.38 min (2003) *

Mile run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

– 4:32.65 min (2003) *

– 5:41.02 min (2003) * 3000 metres – 8:50.09 min (1995) * 5000 metres – 15:24.53 min (1995) *

– 32:52 min (2001) *

Half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

– 68:10 min (2000)

International competitions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ngotho, Margaret Living people 1970 births Kenyan female middle-distance runners Kenyan female long-distance runners Kenyan female cross country runners 20th-century Kenyan women 21st-century Kenyan women 21st-century Kenyan people