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===Early years===
Mutola was born in 1972 in the poor [[shanty town]] of Chamanculo on the outskirts of [[Maputo]], then known as Lourenço Marques, the capital of [[Portuguese Mozambique]].<ref name="bbcnews2000">{{cite news |last1=Tembo |first1=Jose |title=The Maputo express |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1011499.stm |access-date=12 September 2016 |publisher=BBC News |date=7 November 2000}}</ref> Her father was employed by the railways and her mother was a market vendor. As a young girl she excelled in [[association football|football]]. She played with boys, as there were no leagues or teams for girls. In 1988, at only 15 years of age, she was encouraged to take up athletics by one of Mozambique's foremost literary figures, the poet [[José Craveirinha]], who was a keen sports fan. <ref>https://olympics.com/en/athletes/maria-mutola</ref> His son Stelio, himself a former national [[long jump]] record holder who had competed in the [[1980 Summer Olympics]], was Mutola's first coach. Not used to the intensive training, Mutola initially decided that running was not for her, but was persuaded to continue when it became obvious that she had immense potential.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}
After a visit to Portugal, plans were made for her to join the Lisbon-based [[S.L. Benfica (athletics)|Benfica athletics club]], but at the last minute Mozambican government denied her permission. The next year, after several months' training, she won a silver medal in the [[800 metres]] in the [[1988 African Championships in Athletics|1988 African Championships]] in [[Annaba]], [[Algeria]] before competing in the [[1988 Summer Olympics]] less than a month later. She ran a personal best time of 2:04.36, but only finished seventh in her first round heat, failing to progress to the semi-finals. Mutola was still only fifteen years old.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sport-olympic.gr/sp/index.php/athletics/competitions/area-competitions/african-competitions-in-athletics/11-african-championships/6-1988-african-championships-in-athletics |title=1988 African Championships in Athletics – Sport-Olympic.com |first=Giannis |last=Lygkas |access-date=6 August 2016}}</ref>
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