Joan Benoit - Marathon Runner

Joan Benoit - Marathon Runner Joan Benoit Facts: Known for: winning Boston Marathon (twice), womens long distance race at 1984 OlympicsDates: May 16, 1957 - Sport: olympic style sports, marathonCountry Represented: USAAlso known as: Joan Benoit Samuelson Olympic Gold Medal: 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, womens long distance race. Outstanding particularly in light of the fact that: it was the first run through the advanced Olympics games incorporated a long distance race for womenBenoit had knee medical procedure 17 days before the eventshe beat the ruling womens best on the planet, Grete Waitzher time was the third best ever for a lady Boston Marathon Wins: Ahead of all comers 1979: time 2:35:15Won 1983 Boston Marathon: time 2:22:42 Joan Benoit Biography: Joan Benoit began running when, at fifteen, she broke a leg skiing, and utilized running as her recovery. In secondary school she was an effective serious sprinter. She proceeded with olympic style events in school, Title IX giving her a larger number of chances for school sports than she may some way or another have had. Boston Marathons Still in school, Joan Benoit entered the Boston Marathon in 1979. She got trapped in rush hour gridlock while in transit to the race, and ran two miles to get to the beginning stage before the race started. In spite of that additional running, and beginning at the rear of the pack, she pulled ahead and won the long distance race, with a period of 2:35:15. She came back to Maine to complete her last year of school, and endeavored to keep away from the exposure and meetings that she hated to such an extent. Starting in 1981, she instructed at Boston University. In December of 1981, Benoit had medical procedure on both Achilles ligaments, to attempt to fix repeating heel torment. The next September, she won a New England long distance race with a period of 2:26:11, a record for ladies, beating a past record by 2 minutes. In April of 1983, she entered the Boston Marathon once more. Grete Waitz had set another world record for ladies the day preceding at 2:25:29. Allison Roe of New Zealand was relied upon to win; she had come in first among the ladies in the 1981 Boston Marathon. The day gave amazing climate to running. Roe dropped out due to leg issues, and Joan Benoit beat Waitz record by over 2 minutes, at 2:22:42. This was sufficient to qualify her for the Olympics. Still bashful, she was slowly becoming acclimated to the certainty of exposure. A test was raised to Benoits long distance race record: it was guaranteed that she had an unjustifiable favorable position from pacing, since mens long distance runner Kevin Ryan ran with her for 20 miles. The records advisory group chose to allow her record to stand. Olympic Marathon Benoit started preparing for the Olympics preliminaries, which would be hung on May 12, 1984. In any case, in March, her knee gave her issues which an endeavor very still didn't fathom. She attempted an enemy of aggravation sedate, yet that additionally didn't resolve the knee issues. At last, on April 25, she had arthroscopic medical procedure on her correct knee. Four days after medical procedure, she started running, and on May 3, ran for 17 miles. She had more issues with her correct knee and, from making up for that knee, her left hamstring, yet she ran in the Olympic preliminaries at any rate. By mile 17, Benoit was in the number one spot, and however her legs kept on being tight and difficult for the last miles, she came in first at 2:31:04, thus regardless of being only weeks out of medical procedure qualified for the Olympics. She prepared over the mid year, generally in the warmth of the day foreseeing a hot run in Los Angeles. Grete Waitz was the normal victor, and Benoit planned to beat her. The first womens long distance race at a cutting edge Olympics was held August 5, 1984. Benoit accelerated early, and nobody else could surpass her. She completed at 2:24:52, the third best time for a womens long distance race and the best in any all-ladies long distance race. Waitz won the silver award, and Rosa Mota of Portugal won the bronze. After the Olympics In September she wedded Scott Samuelson, her school darling. She kept on attempting to evade exposure. She ran the Americas Marathon in Chicago in 1985, with a period of 2:21:21. In 1987, she ran the Boston Marathon again this time she was three months pregnant with her first youngster. Mota took first. Benoit didnt partake in the 1988 Olympics, concentrating rather on child rearing her new baby. She ran the 1989 Boston Marathon, coming in ninth among the ladies. In 1991, she again ran the Boston Marathon, coming in fourth among the ladies. In 1991, Benoit was determined to have asthma, and back issues kept her from the 1992 Olympics. She was by then the mother of a subsequent youngster In 1994, Benoit won the Chicago Marathon in 2:37:09, meeting all requirements for the Olympic preliminaries. She put thirteenth in the preliminaries for the 1996 Olympics, with a period of 2:36:54. In the preliminaries for the 2000 Olympics, Benoit set ninth, at 2:39:59. Joan Benoit has fund-raised for the Special Olympics, Bsotons Big Sisters program and for numerous sclerosis. She has likewise been one of the sprinters voices on the Nike running framework. More Awards: Ms. Magazine Woman of the Year 1984Amateur Sportswoman of the Year 1984 (shared honor), from the Womens Sports FederationSullivan Award, 1986, from the Amateur Athletic Union, for best beginner competitor Training: open secondary school, MaineBowdoin College, Maine: graduated 1979graduate school: North Carolina State University Foundation, Family: Mother: Nancy BenoitFather: Andre Benoit Marriage, Children: spouse: Scott Samuelson (wedded September 29, 1984)children: Abigail and Anders