Stephen's Story
Born in Ballarat, Steve Moneghetti grew up competing in track events and cross country. In 1985 he was selected for his first national team at the World Cross-Country Championships in Portugal. He finished 101, but it was the start of career spanning 29 major team selections over 20 years.
The Victorian was selected for the 10,000 metres at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, where he placed fifth in a time of 28:29.20. He decided after the team had already been entered to make his debut in the men’s marathon. He went on to win bronze in his debut marathon event in a time of 2 hours 11:18.
He made his Olympic debut in Seoul two years later. Racing the men’s marathon in 25-degree heat, Moneghetti finished in fifth place in a time of 2 hours 11:49. He won silver at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, before setting a personal best time of 2 hours 8:16 in the Berlin Marathon later that year.
Moneghetti finished 28th in his second Olympic appearance at Barcelona in 1992. His first gold medal came two years later at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada, completing his full set of Commonwealth medals in the marathon event.
The Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games delivered a seventh-place finish, and at 38 years-old the veteran competed in his final Olympic Games on home soil at Sydney 2000. He honored the occasion with another top-10 finish in a time of 2 hours 14:50.
During his sporting career, Moneghetti won the Sydney City to Surf four times, was the mayor of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games village in 2006, and was the Chef de Mission of the Australian Commonwealth Games Team in 2010 and 2014.
He was inducted into the Australian Athletics Hall of Fame in April 2017.
