Joan Benoit
On the 5 August 1984, the inaugural Women’s Olympic Marathon took place in Los Angeles. As the lead pack arrived at the 3 mile water station, US competitor Joan Benoit made her move. The temperatures on that first Sunday of the games ranged from between 20º and 30º with high humidity. The favourites in the lead pack which included legendary Norwegian Grete Waitz and Portuguese Rosa Mota watched Benoit stride off into the distance confident that the searing Californian heat would take its toll and she would come back to them as the race unfolded.
Benoit had used this tactic before, most notably a year earlier at the 1983 Boston Marathon. Grete Waitz had just set a new Marathon World Record and Benoit was keen to take it back. In Boston, however Benoit did not wait for the 3rd mile, she took off at 4:47/mile pace and went through the 10 mile marker in 51:38 (still the 2nd fastest 10 mile by a US woman) and was through halfway in 1:08:23. The half marathon time would have been a World Record but it and the 10 mile time were not officially recognised. Benoit did slow but still shattered the Marathon World Record by 2min 47 sec. She would later describe her approach to running, ‘I go hard until something stops me.’
As Joan Benoit approached the LA Coliseum (the finishing point of the Olympic race) her image flashed up on the giant screen inside the stadium. Seeing the US singlet, the crowd erupted. Benoit was expecting that the stadium might have 4000-5000 spectators, it being the first weekend of the games and a Sunday morning. Down and through the famous tunnel, Benoit ran towards the ever increasing cacophony.
It was a long journey to the women’s marathon in LA. A journey that was made possible by pioneers such as Violet Piercy, Katherine Switzer, Adrienne Beames, and Jaqueline Hansen. The inclusion of the marathon came about after significant lobbying from the International Runners Committee and financial support from Nike. As of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, the 1500m was the longest race distance for female athletes. The lobbying groups had hoped that a 3,000m race may be included in 1984 with 5,000, 10,000 and marathon distances possible in future Olympics. However, the success of the Avon Marathon series as well as the IAAF sanctioned marathons, growing participation in distance running and the influence of Katherine Switzer among others, the IOC decided to approve the Marathon for LA 1984.
It wasn’t exactly a straightforward route to the LA marathon for Benoit either. A recurring knee injury led to surgery just two weeks before the US trials. With little training she still finished first at the trials. The Maine native Benoit, has described her steely determination as having formed in her younger years when she had to consistently disregard the disapproval and derision she endured for being a young woman who ran long distances. A skiing accident led to injury and Benoit began to run to regain fitness for all the other sports that she participated in. She found in distance running her passion.
Entering the Coliseum Benoit along with the 92,000 spectators inside and the millions watching from home were acutely aware that this was a deeply significant moment in sports history. A ferocious competitor but always reticent of the limelight, Benoit later recalled how heading through the tunnel she asked herself ‘are you ready for this?’. Her momentum carried her forward and before she really had time to dwell on that question, she was on to the Coliseum track. The stadium rose together in raucous celebration. In that moment Benoit’s legs turned to jelly. The famous phrase used by Bruce Jenner on his t-shirt at the ’76 Olympics sprung into Benoit’s head ‘FEET, don’t fail me now’. Her feet behaved and Benoit ran to victory, a full 400m ahead of Waitz and to a special place in athletics history.
Although Benoit will forever be celebrated for being the first female Olympic Marathon Gold medalist, her career has many outstanding moments and her achievements place her alongside the pantheon of great athletes. The two time Boston Marathon winner, also won the Chicago Marathon in 1985 setting an American Record that would last 18 years. Although, injuries hampered her career after ’84, it is her longevity that is most remarkable. Benoit has run a sub 3 hour marathon across 5 decades. In 2011 at the Chicago Marathon age 53, she set an Age World Record of 2:47:50 and in 2013 at Boston set a 50-59 Age Group World Record of 2:50:33. Benoit’s pursuit of a sub 3 hour marathon across 6 decades continues….
“If you don’t have passion, you don’t have fire and if you don’t have fire, you can’t ignite anything in life.” Joan Benoit.
Tadhg Crowley
2 June 2022