Other Work
She was appointed an honorary United Nations youth ambassador in 2003 at a ceremony in Maputo, in recognition of her outstanding athletic achievements. Other youth ambassadors are musician Baaba Maal and basketball star Dikembe Mutombo. She cited the importance of raising awareness of HIV/AIDS issues amongst young people in Africa and also highlighted the benefits that sport can bring to young people. Indeed, her Lurdes Mutola Foundation aims to bring more young Mozambicans to sport and to assist in helping them achieve their sporting and educational potential. Other initiatives that Mutola and her Foundation have been involved in include a Ministry of Health / UNICEF immunisation campaign against measles and polio and housing development initiatives in Maputo. Even before the establishment of the Foundation, she had played an active role in supporting sport in Maputo. She gave financial support that allowed an artificial track to be constructed on the sports ground at which she had originally trained as a fifteen-year old. She also authorised the sale of t-shirts that featured her image, profits from which went towards helping the Grupo Desportivo de Maputo out of financial difficulty.
At the 2006 Winter Olympics she was one of the eight Olympic flag bearers at the Opening Ceremony.
After retiring from athletics she returned to her first sporting love, football. She played for Mamelodi Sundowns team in the South African women's league. In 2011 she was captain of the Mozambique national soccer team at the All-Africa Games in Maputo.
In 2012 she coached South African runner Caster Semenya to a silver medal at the Olympic Games in London.
Read more about this topic: Maria Mutola
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