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Joan Benoit Samuelson (born May 16, 1957) is an American marathon runner who was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She held the fastest time for an American woman at the Chicago Marathon for 32 years after winning the race in 1985.
May 13, 2024 · Joan Benoit Samuelson is an American long-distance runner who won the first Olympic gold medal awarded for the women’s marathon, which debuted at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. During her career, she also held U.S. records for the 10 km, the half-marathon, and the marathon as well as a world.
Aug 5, 2014 · Joan Benoit Samuelson, running with her signature cap, on her way to winning the first women’s Olympic marathon in 1984.
Benoit qualified for the Games by winning the U.S. Olympic trial only seventeen days after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on her right knee. Pulling away early, running straight to the win. At the Olympic Games, Benoit was the co-favourite along with Norway's Grete Waitz, who had won all seven marathons she had completed.
Mar 3, 2024 · On Sunday morning, running icon Joan Benoit Samuelson claimed her sixth and final Abbott World Marathon Major star, clocking 3:42:18 at the Tokyo Marathon. The American distance running legend...
Mar 20, 2024 · Joan Benoit was the winner of the first Olympic women’s marathon at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 1984. Born in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, Benoit earned All-American honors at North Carolina State in 1977 and 1978.
Oct 24, 2008 · Some of her competitors hadn't been born the year Joan Benoit Samuelson ran her first Boston Marathon, in 1979—a race she won in 2:35:15. Now, at almost 51, her goal time was 15...
A Champion for Women in Distance Running. Joan Benoit Samuelson shocked the world when she made a risky early break at the inaugural women’s Olympic Marathon in Los Angeles in 1984. She ran alone for the final 21 miles of the race and became an instant icon when she won the gold medal.
Benoit was the two-time Boston Marathon champion (1979, 1983) and current world record holder in the marathon (2:22:42) by the time she was preparing for the inaugural women’s Olympic marathon in 1984 in Los Angeles.
The winner of the first Olympic women's marathon at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Joan Benoit Samuelson is synonymous with the increased popularity of long distance running in the United States.
