Margo Jennings
Encyclopedia
Margo Jennings is a retired teacher and athletics coach. Jennings enjoyed a 40 year teaching career while coaching track athletes of all levels for 30 years. Using her self-created training plan, focusing on low mileage and strength training, Jennings coached many athletes, most notably Maria Mutola
(Mozambique
), who won Gold in the 800m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Dame Kelly Holmes (England
) who won double gold in the 800/1500m events at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Jennings is considered by many supporters as one of the best middle distance coaches in the world.
. Her mother Ann, an avid fan of the Arts
, was a legal stenographer for Louis Nizer
before quitting the profession to raise Margo and her older sister Jayne. Jerry, her father, owned a wholesale furrier shop in New York City's Garment District
and was a fervent sports fan.
Encouraged by her mother, Jennings studied dance and piano, beginning daily lessons at four years of age and continuing through high school. An accomplished performer by thirteen, she attended high school at the High School of Music and Art in New York City.
She attended the University of Miami
from 1962–1966, during the years of segregation
, race riots and the rumblings leading up to the Vietnam War
. An active civil rights
supporter and member of the Phi Sigma Sigma
sorority, she was President of the Panhellenic Council during he senior year. Inspired by the African American
students she met while student teaching
in a "disadvantaged" school in Miami, Jennings developed her positive reinforcement, confidence building teaching methodology. Encouraging her students to set goals and achieve them, she taught with an ethos that tiny steps in the right direction, lead to big changes over time. Her teaching approach was the foundation for her athletics training plan.
(VISTA), living on a farm in Rogue River, Oregon
. and becoming a recreational runner. In 1980, Jennings moved to Eugene
, Oregon
. In 1981, she began teaching 6th grade at Hamlin Middle School in Springfield, Oregon
and coaching the 7th and 8th grade boys and girls track and cross country
teams.
Studying the training plans of top athletics coaches, Jennings combined her motivational teaching techniques with training she learned from her research, creating her own training program. Her natural ability to inspire her students to set and attain goals, flowed into her role as a coach, resulting in a unique coaching plan that merged confidence and character building activities with hard physical workouts. Jennings led the Hamlin Middle School track and cross country teams to numerous district championship wins.
hired Jennings as the Cross Country/Distance Track Coach for boys and girls. Jennings continued teaching middle school while coaching the high school teams. She continually improved her training program to fit the needs of her athletes, resulting in a double periodized program focusing on low mileage and strength building workouts. Expanding her training plan to include mental strengthening techniques, she taught her athletes that conditioning the mind was as important as training the body. Under Jennings, the Springfield High School teams were competitive in their district.
Maria Mutola
arrived at Springfield High School in March 1991, from Mozambique
, Africa
, on an Olympic Solidarity Scholarship. As a junior in high school, she was already a promising 800m runner. Training under Jennings, Mutola soon shaved enough time off her 800m and 1500m race times that she was competitive with the fastest middle distance females in the world.
jackpot on September 5, 2003 in Brussels
, Belgium
. Mutola is often ranked as the greatest female 800m runner of all time because of her achievements and longevity of her career.
Jennings coached other athletes to success before her retirement from coaching in 2006. At one time, Jennings was coaching four of the eight women in the 800m IAAF World Championship semi-final race in Paris
, 2003.
Besides Mutola, Jennings is best known for coaching Kelly Holmes
, from 2002–2005, to her infamous Double Gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Holmes became Britain's first ever female, double gold medalist at the same Olympic Games. Using her three-part training program, which evolved to include physical, mental and emotional training, Jennings was able to successfully coach Holmes through the emotional weight Holmes gained after an athletics career plagued with injuries and illnesses.
A history making career, Jennings became the first American woman to coach athletes at the elite level, bringing them to Gold, without ever competing in track and field herself in high school, college, or on the elite circuit.
, Australia
, Canada
, Jamaica
, the UK and the US.
, Jamaica and the US.
Maria Mutola
Maria de Lurdes Mutola is a female athlete from Mozambique who has specialized in the 800 m. She was born in Maputo, earning her the suiting nickname of "The Maputo Express. She is the fourth track & field athlete to compete at six Olympic Games.-Teenage years:Mutola was born in the Chamanculo...
(Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
), who won Gold in the 800m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Dame Kelly Holmes (England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) who won double gold in the 800/1500m events at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Jennings is considered by many supporters as one of the best middle distance coaches in the world.
Early life
Margo Jennings was born and raised in the Bronx borough of New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Her mother Ann, an avid fan of the Arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
, was a legal stenographer for Louis Nizer
Louis Nizer
Louis Nizer was a noted Jewish-American trial lawyer and senior partner of the law firm Phillips Nizer Benjamin Krim & Ballon...
before quitting the profession to raise Margo and her older sister Jayne. Jerry, her father, owned a wholesale furrier shop in New York City's Garment District
Garment District
Garment District has several uses including:*Garment District, Manhattan - in New York City*Garment District - in Cambridge, Massachusetts*Los Angeles Garment District, also known as the Fashion District*Garment District...
and was a fervent sports fan.
Encouraged by her mother, Jennings studied dance and piano, beginning daily lessons at four years of age and continuing through high school. An accomplished performer by thirteen, she attended high school at the High School of Music and Art in New York City.
She attended the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
from 1962–1966, during the years of segregation
Segregation
Segregation or segregate refers to setting apart or separating things or people and may refer to:* Particle segregation* Segregation in materials* Magnetic-activated cell sorting* Segregate * Mendel's law of segregation...
, race riots and the rumblings leading up to the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. An active civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
supporter and member of the Phi Sigma Sigma
Phi Sigma Sigma
Phi Sigma Sigma , colloquially known as "Phi Sig," was the first collegiate nonsectarian fraternity, welcoming women of all faiths and backgrounds...
sorority, she was President of the Panhellenic Council during he senior year. Inspired by the African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
students she met while student teaching
Student teaching
Student teaching is a college-supervised instructional experience; usually the culminating course in a university/college undergraduate education or graduate school program leading to teacher education and certification. Examples of programs include Early Childhood , Middle Childhood , and...
in a "disadvantaged" school in Miami, Jennings developed her positive reinforcement, confidence building teaching methodology. Encouraging her students to set goals and achieve them, she taught with an ethos that tiny steps in the right direction, lead to big changes over time. Her teaching approach was the foundation for her athletics training plan.
Middle school coaching
After graduating college, Jennings spent seven years teaching in Miami. The next 10 years found her traveling, serving in Volunteers in Service to AmericaVolunteers in Service to America
VISTA or Volunteers in Service to America is an anti-poverty program created by Lyndon Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 as the domestic version of the Peace Corps. Initially, the program increased employment opportunities for conscientious people who felt they could contribute tangibly to...
(VISTA), living on a farm in Rogue River, Oregon
Rogue River, Oregon
Rogue River is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,131.-History:The settlement was known as Woodville for many years, but was changed to Rogue River about 1912...
. and becoming a recreational runner. In 1980, Jennings moved to Eugene
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. In 1981, she began teaching 6th grade at Hamlin Middle School in Springfield, Oregon
Springfield, Oregon
Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Separated from Eugene to the west, mainly by Interstate 5, Springfield is the second-most populous city in the metropolitan area...
and coaching the 7th and 8th grade boys and girls track and cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
teams.
Studying the training plans of top athletics coaches, Jennings combined her motivational teaching techniques with training she learned from her research, creating her own training program. Her natural ability to inspire her students to set and attain goals, flowed into her role as a coach, resulting in a unique coaching plan that merged confidence and character building activities with hard physical workouts. Jennings led the Hamlin Middle School track and cross country teams to numerous district championship wins.
High school coaching
In 1987, Springfield High SchoolSpringfield High School (Oregon)
Springfield High School was the first public high school in Springfield, Oregon, United States. It is one of four high schools in the Springfield School District.-Academics:In 2008, 78% of the school's seniors received their high school diploma...
hired Jennings as the Cross Country/Distance Track Coach for boys and girls. Jennings continued teaching middle school while coaching the high school teams. She continually improved her training program to fit the needs of her athletes, resulting in a double periodized program focusing on low mileage and strength building workouts. Expanding her training plan to include mental strengthening techniques, she taught her athletes that conditioning the mind was as important as training the body. Under Jennings, the Springfield High School teams were competitive in their district.
Maria Mutola
Maria Mutola
Maria de Lurdes Mutola is a female athlete from Mozambique who has specialized in the 800 m. She was born in Maputo, earning her the suiting nickname of "The Maputo Express. She is the fourth track & field athlete to compete at six Olympic Games.-Teenage years:Mutola was born in the Chamanculo...
arrived at Springfield High School in March 1991, from Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, on an Olympic Solidarity Scholarship. As a junior in high school, she was already a promising 800m runner. Training under Jennings, Mutola soon shaved enough time off her 800m and 1500m race times that she was competitive with the fastest middle distance females in the world.
Elite coaching
Jennings coached Mutola over a career that spanned two decades, training her through 2 Olympic medals, 11 World Indoor and Outdoor Championships, and hundreds of first place finishes on the international elite racing circuit. Maria dominated the 800m distance from 1993 to 2004, becoming the first person to win the entire $1 million IAAF Golden LeagueIAAF Golden League
The IAAF Golden League was an annual series of track and field meetings organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations...
jackpot on September 5, 2003 in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. Mutola is often ranked as the greatest female 800m runner of all time because of her achievements and longevity of her career.
Jennings coached other athletes to success before her retirement from coaching in 2006. At one time, Jennings was coaching four of the eight women in the 800m IAAF World Championship semi-final race in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, 2003.
Besides Mutola, Jennings is best known for coaching Kelly Holmes
Kelly Holmes
Dame Kelly Holmes, DBE, MBE is a retired British middle distance athlete. She specialised in the 800 metres and 1500 metres events and won a gold medal for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens...
, from 2002–2005, to her infamous Double Gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Holmes became Britain's first ever female, double gold medalist at the same Olympic Games. Using her three-part training program, which evolved to include physical, mental and emotional training, Jennings was able to successfully coach Holmes through the emotional weight Holmes gained after an athletics career plagued with injuries and illnesses.
A history making career, Jennings became the first American woman to coach athletes at the elite level, bringing them to Gold, without ever competing in track and field herself in high school, college, or on the elite circuit.
Training program
By the late nineties, Jennings had perfected her unique training program, tailoring it for middle distance runners. The OlyGold Program is a double periodised plan focusing on physical, mental and emotional preparation, while combining low mileage with high strength building workouts. It contains two cycles per year: The Indoor Cycle and The Outdoor Cycle, with each cycle containing four megacycles: the Foundation Cycle, Intensity Cycle, Specific Preparation Cycle and Racing Cycle; it is a plan that shaped Jennings's athletes into champions. This successful program earned Jennings Mozambique's Olympic Track and Field head coaching position during the 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympic Games, providing her a rare opportunity few other coaches have experienced. Jennings has also coached elite athletes from NamibiaNamibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, the UK and the US.
Retirement
Margo Jennings lives in Eugene, Oregon with her husband Bobby Jennings. She temporarily "came out of retirement" in 2010/2011 to coach the current Oregon State 800 meter champion, Louise Mulvey of Sheldon High School, Eugene. Margo's unique and strong coaching had a huge impact on Mulvey's strategies and mental approach to running which enabled her to reach her 3 year State Title goal in the 800 meter event. Margo is a keynote speaker at many conferences and workshops around the world and is currently mentoring and advising athletes and coaches in the UK, Australia, Mozambique, Namibia, New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Jamaica and the US.