Steve Moneghetti

Steve Moneghetti

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Personal information
Full name	Stephen James Moneghetti
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1962-09-26) 26 September 1962
Height	176 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
Sport	Marathon Running
Event(s)	10000m, marathon
Medal record Men's Athletics Representing Australia World Championships 1997 Athens Marathon Commonwealth Games 1994 Victoria Marathon 1990 Auckland Marathon 1986 Edinburgh Marathon 1998 Kuala Lumpur 10000 m

Stephen James "Steve" Moneghetti, AM (born 26 September 1962 in Ballarat, Victoria), is an Australian long-distance runner. Moneghetti has a degree in civil engineering, a graduate diploma in education and an honorary doctorate from the University of Ballarat. He is a personal development consultant with the Ministry of Education and chair of the Victorian Review into Physical and Sport Education in Schools.

Moneghetti was not considered to be a good runner in primary school. Attempting to join little athletics his father was told that Moneghetti was not wanted. By high school (St Patrick's College, Ballarat), however, he had developed into an excellent endurance athlete and was well on his way to becoming one of Australia's greatest marathon runners.

He is married to Tanya Moneghetti and they have four children Emma, Laura, Matthew and Olivia.

He started out as a 10,000 metre runner and finished fifth in that event at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. He ran his first marathon at the same meet winning the bronze medal. His first marathon victory was in Berlin in 1990 in the time of 2:08:16, coming only a couple of weeks after winning the Great North Run in 1:00:34. In 1991 he set the course record of 40:03 for Sydney's iconic 14 km City 2 Surf, which still stands. In 1994 he won the Tokyo Marathon and the marathon at the Commonwealth Games. He came 3rd in the 1997 World Championships marathon race. He has also competed in the marathon at four Olympic Games; 2000 in Sydney, 1996 in Atlanta, 1992 in Barcelona and 1988 in Seoul. His best performance in the Olympics was 5th place at Seoul in 1988.

Moneghetti's last race representing Australia was the Sydney 2000 Olympic Marathon. After meeting trouble in the middle of the race he recovered to finish 10th. In the interview after the race, he thanked Australia for its support during his long career.

Moneghetti continued to race for fun in other events in Australia such as the City to Surf and Sydney and Melbourne Marathons on an infrequent basis. He is the only male to have won the Sydney City to Surf four times in succession (1988-1991). On 25 July 2010, Moneghetti won the Park2Park 10 km race at Ipswich in Queensland, finishing with a race record time of 32:18. In 2014, he competed in the Oceania Masters Athletics Cross Country Championships hosted in Bendigo. Moneghetti won the event, completing the 8km race in 26:05, about 2 minutes ahead of second place (fellow Australian M50 Michael Bieleny) and another minute ahead of third place (NZ runner M45 Michael Wray).

He lit the cauldron in his hometown of Ballarat to celebrate the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. He was the Mayor of the Commonwealth Games Village at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006.

In 2010 he was named as the Australian team's chef de mission for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.

In 2014 he was nominated for an Order of Australia medal and was quoted to say 'Not bad for not winning an olympic gold at Athens athletics'.

Moneghetti's heritage can be traced to Swiss Italians of Australia.

Media

Moneghetti appears in a feature film titled Reverse Runner. He plays the fictional character of John Johns, a retired champion at the 100 meter backwards sprint. The film is a sporting comedy which also features a cameo from Bruce McAvaney.

References

• Statistics

Sporting positions
Preceded by Matthew Temane	Men's Half Marathon Best Year Performance 1990	Succeeded by Lawrence Peu