Olympic Games Maria Mutola profile: Having earned more than $1 million in prize money alone in 2003, Maria Mutola could buy herself almost any piece of jewellery she wanted - except the one she desires most: another Olympic 800 metres gold medal.

"The money last year was nice and kind of unexpected," she said. "But my biggest dream remains to do well in the Olympic Games." She is still only 31, but in Athens she will be competing in her fifth Olympics.

She finished seventh in her heat of the 800m in Seoul in 1988, when she was only 15 and was running her first race outside Africa. Widely tipped to win in Barcelona four years later, she finished fifth. Then, in Atlanta in 1996, having been beaten once in four years, she had to settle for a bronze medal. She finally struck gold in Sydney four years later.

A win in Athens would make Mutola the first Olympian since New Zealand's Peter Snell in 1964 to retain an 800m title.

"That's what everything is geared towards," said Margo Jennings, her coach. "Ever since the last Olympics we have looked forward to this year's Olympics, and nothing in between has changed that. The Olympics are magical. There's nothing like it."

Mutola last year became the first athlete to take the $1 million (€775,000) Golden League jackpot for winning her six races in the elite series. She also earned almost €160,000 in prize money and probably 400,000 in appearance and sponsors' fees.

"I don't think the money has changed me, and it was important that it didn't change me," she said.

Perhaps what has changed is how Mutola is viewed within her sport. Her brilliance during the past 13 years has been taken almost for granted.

She has never truly received the recognition she deserves, despite having won six world indoor and three outdoor titles.

It is a paradox of Mutola's greatness that more attention is usually paid to her when she loses, such as in the 1995 world championships in Gothenburg when she was disqualified for stepping over the line, or when she was beaten in Atlanta.

After adding the world title in Paris to her Golden League jackpot, she received one of the highest accolades in the sport when the American magazine Track & Field News made her its female athlete of the year.

"Those are the kind of feats that need to be recognised," said Jennings. "She's finally getting the respect she's worked so hard for."

In her home country of Mozambique, of course, Mutola is already regarded as a demi-goddess. When she returned home from Sydney she was given a red-carpet reception at the packed airport.

She could hardly hide her tears as she walked past the traditional dance groups shouting her name and giving her messages of praise and encouragement. In response Mutola said: "I dedicate this gold medal to all Mozambicans, because it's the first Olympic gold medal for our country."

After Sydney, the Mozambican government named one of the avenues of the capital, Maputo, after her. The primary school she attended also bears her name.

Mutola lives in a huge mansion in Johannesburg but retains close links with her homeland through the Maria Mutola Foundation, which funds athletics for underprivileged children.

The message Mutola, who was born in Chamanculo, a poor shantytown on the edge of Maputo, wants to get across is that if she can make it on the world stage then so can anyone.

"It doesn't matter where you come from," she said. "If you come from a rich or poor area or family, you can always achieve your goals at school or in sports - if you focus enough and dedicate yourself."

More than one Premiership footballer has lost his incentive to perform after banking his first million, but Jennings marvels at how well Mutola juggles the twin demands of being a national heroine and a great champion.

"It's been a year filled with demands," she said. "You don't want her to lose focus, but so many people have wanted her time. But with Maria, training never takes a back seat."

Last month in Lausanne Mutola suffered her first 800m defeat for two years, to the Russian Svetlana Cherkasova, and then finished last over 1,500 metres in Paris. A hamstring injury was to blame, but she said that is behind her now, although she was not her usual, dominant self when winning the 800m at Crystal Palace last Friday.

"It's okay," she said. "I just need a bit more training and I will be fine by Athens."

Depite all her success, Mutola's appetite shows no sign of being satisfied.

"I'm still young and have a lot to do . . . I just want to run a few more years, maybe one more Olympic Games," she said. "Then, I can actually quit. If I win this year's Olympics I don't want to think I have accomplished everything because if I think that way, I'll start losing races."