Career
She has competed at the 2004 Olympic Games, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the World Championships in 2005 and 2007 without reaching the finals.
She won the silver medal at the 2006 African Championships and the gold medal at the 2007 All-Africa Games. At the All-Africa Games she also finished fifth in the 200 metres. At the 2006 IAAF World Cup she finished sixth with the African 4x400 metres relay team. She ran a personal best and Botswanan record of 49.83 seconds to win at the 2008 African Championships in Athletics. It remains the Championship record for the event.
She ran at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships but did not reach the final after a poor showing in the semifinal. Montsho reached her first world final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but her time of 51.18 left her in last position. The following year, she ran 49.89 in the semifinals at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics which was enough to make the final round of the 400 m. She ran slower in the final than she did in the semis and finished last as a result. She ended the year with a fifth place finish at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final.
The 2010 season brought her a series of major titles: she came close to the podium at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships: having set indoor national records in the heats and semi-finals, she was beaten to the bronze medal by Vania Stambolova. She opened her outdoor season with her third fastest ever 400 m run, winning the Gabriel Tiacoh meet in a time of 50.35 seconds – almost two seconds ahead of her training partner Ndeye Fatou Soumah who was next to finish. She defended her continental title by winning the 400 m at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics with a season's best run of 50.03 seconds.
On the 2010 Diamond League circuit she won at the Bislett Games and was ranked second overall in the 400 m behind Allyson Felix. Montsho ran her fastest time of the year at the 2010 Continental Cup where, representing Africa, she beat Debbie Dunn to win the gold medal in 49.89 seconds. She extended her season further to compete at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. There she became Botswana's first ever gold medallist at the Games by winning the 400 m with a Games record time of 50.10 seconds. She then helped the Botswana team to the 4×400 m relay final, but they finished in seventh place.
At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in South Korea, she narrowly beat Alyson Felix to become Botswana's first World or Olympic track and field champion. See 2011 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 400 metres.
At the 2012 Olympics final she placed 4th with 49.75 seconds.
Read more about this topic: Amantle Montsho
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“In time your relatives will come to accept the idea that a career is as important to you as your family. Of course, in time the polar ice cap will melt.”
—Barbara Dale (b. 1940)
“What exacerbates the strain in the working class is the absence of money to pay for services they need, economic insecurity, poor daycare, and lack of dignity and boredom in each partner’s job. What exacerbates it in upper-middle class is the instability of paid help and the enormous demands of the career system in which both partners become willing believers. But the tug between traditional and egalitarian models of marriage runs from top to bottom of the class ladder.”
—Arlie Hochschild (20th century)
“Like the old soldier of the ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye.”
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964)