Luvsanlkhündegiin Otgonbayar


Luvsanlkhündegiin Otgonbayar, is a Mongolian athlete. She has represented her country by running the marathon at competitions such as the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2006 Asian Games, the 2007 World Championships and the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Career

Born in Ömnögovi Province, she achieved a degree of fame during the 2004 Olympics by completing the marathon, with a time 3:48:42, despite having dropped half an hour or more behind all the other competitors. Time magazine reported:
Similarly to Time, the BBC celebrated Otgonbayar as one of the "unsung heroes" of the Olympics. The Marquette Tribune reported that the "Mongolian Luvsanlkhundeg Otgonbayar limped across the finish line 30 minutes after the second slowest runner" while "the remaining crowd clapped in unison as she approached the final 100 meters on her way to finishing the race." The newspaper suggested that she had thus "followed in the footsteps of Pheidippides", running the marathon with notable "courage".
Describing her performance, Otgonbayar said:
In 2015, she finished 11th at the Hamburg Marathon with a personal best of 2:38.

Achievements