Margo Jennings is a retired teacher and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

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 Maria de Lurdes Mutola ( ; born 27 October 1972) is a retired Mozambican female track and field who specialised in the 800 metres running event. She is only the fourth female track and field athlete to compete at six Olympic Games. She is a th ...

(

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

), who won Gold in the

800m The 800 metres, or 800 meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event sin ...

at the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

and

Dame Kelly Holmes Dame Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British middle distance athlete and television personality. Holmes specialised in the 800 and 1500 metres events and won gold medals for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. ...

(

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

) who won double gold in the 800/1500m events at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. Jennings is considered by many supporters as one of the best

middle distance running Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

coaches in the world.

Early life

Margo Jennings was born and raised in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

borough of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Her mother Ann, an avid fan of the

Arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

, was a legal stenographer for

Louis Nizer Louis Nizer (February 6, 1902 – November 10, 1994) was an American trial lawyer based in New York City. He was the senior partner of the law firm Phillips, Nizer, Benjamin, Krim & Ballon. In addition to his legal work, Louis Nizer was an aut ...

before quitting the profession to raise Margo and her older sister Jayne. Jerry, her father, owned a wholesale

furrier Fur clothing is clothing made from the preserved skins of mammals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing and is thought to have been widely used by people for at least 120,000 years. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a specific item ...

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 The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

from 1962–1966, during the years of

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of human ...

race riots This is a list of ethnic riots by country, and includes riots based on ethnic, sectarian, xenophobic, and racial conflict. Some of these riots can also be classified as pogroms. Africa Americas United States Nativist period: 1700s� ...

and the rumblings leading up to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. An active

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

supporter and member of the

Phi Sigma Sigma Phi Sigma Sigma (), colloquially known as Phi Sig, was the first collegiate nonsectarian sorority to allow membership of women of all faiths and backgrounds. The sorority was founded on November 26, 1913, and lists 60,000 initiated members, 115 ...

sorority In North America, fraternities and sororities ( and ) are social clubs at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations, as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sorori ...

, she was President of the Panhellenic Council during her senior year. Inspired by the

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

students she met while

student teaching Student teaching or teaching practice is a supervised instructional experience; usually the culminating course in a university or college undergraduate education or graduate school program leading to teacher education and certification. Student tea ...

in a "disadvantaged" school in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, 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.

Coaching career

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 America AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program designed to alleviate poverty. President of the United States, President John F. Kennedy originated the idea for VISTA, which was founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965, and incorporated ...

(VISTA), living on a farm in

Rogue River, Oregon Rogue River is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 2,407. History In the early days the gold seekers forded the Rogue River, and during high water they swam across by holding the tails of t ...

. and becoming a recreational runner. In 1980, Jennings moved to

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. In 1981, she began teaching 6th grade at Hamlin Middle School in

Springfield, Oregon Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Willamette Valley, Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield, OR MSA, Eugene-Springfield metropolitan statistical area. Separ ...

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.

High school coaching

In 1987, Springfield High School 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.

arrived at Springfield High School in March 1991, from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, on an Olympic Solidarity Scholarship. As a junior in high school, she was already a promising

runner. Training under Jennings, Mutola soon shaved enough time off her

and

1500m The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run 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 Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometers ...

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 League The IAAF Golden League was an annual series of outdoor track and field meetings organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Athletes who won specific events at all of the series meetings were awarded a jackpot prize ...

jackpot on September 5, 2003 in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. 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 Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

World Championship semi-final race in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, 2003. Besides Mutola, Jennings is best known for coaching

Kelly Holmes Dame Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British Middle-distance running, middle distance Track and field, athlete and television personality. Holmes specialised in the 800 metres, 800 and 1500 metres events and won gold medals for ...

, from 2002–2005, to her infamous Double Gold at the

. 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 HolmesOwen Slot
"How Kelly's heroes found the magic formula for gold"
"The Sunday Times", Dec 11, 2004 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 The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, providing her a rare opportunity few other coaches have experienced. Jennings has also coached elite athletes from

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, 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 A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...

at many conferences and workshops around the world and is currently mentoring and advising athletes and coaches in the UK, Australia, Mozambique, Namibia,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, Jamaica and the US.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, Margo 1945 births People from the Bronx Sportspeople from Eugene, Oregon People from Rogue River, Oregon Living people University of Miami alumni Educators from Oregon The High School of Music & Art alumni Educators from New York City American women educators 21st-century American women