View source for Joan Benoit

{{short description|American distance runner (born 1957)}}
{{use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name          = Joan Benoit
| image         = Joan Benoit 2008.jpg
| caption       = Benoit in 2008
| headercolor   = #B0C4DE
| fullname      = Joan Benoit Samuelson
| birth_date    = {{Birth date and age|1957|05|16}}
| birth_place   = [[Cape Elizabeth, Maine]], U.S.
| height        = 5 ft 2 in
| weight        = 100 lb
| country       = USA
| sport         = [[Track and field athletics]]
| event         = [[3000 m]], [[Marathon]]
| spouse        = {{marriage|Scott Samuelson|September 29, 1984}}<ref>{{cite news |first1=Joe |last1=Concannon |title=Lopes is Chicago's Lure |work=[[Boston Globe]] |date=1984-10-20 |page=28}}</ref>
| collegeteam   = [[Bowdoin College|Bowdoin]], [[North Carolina State]]
| club          = [[Athletics West]]
| coach         = Bob Sevene
| olympics      = [[Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics - Women's marathon|1984]]
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Women's [[athletics (sport)|athletics]]}}
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold| [[1984 Summer Olympics|1984 Los Angeles]] | [[Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics - Women's Marathon|Marathon]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Pan American Games]]}}
{{MedalGold| [[1983 Pan American Games|1983 Caracas]] | [[Athletics at the 1983 Pan American Games|3,000 metres]]}}
}}

'''Joan Benoit Samuelson''' (born May 16, 1957) is an [[Americans|American]] [[Marathon (sport)|marathon]] [[Running|runner]] who was the first women's [[Olympic Games]] marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the [[1984 Summer Olympics]] in [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.marathonguide.com/history/records/alltimelist.cfm?Gen=F&Sort=Country|title=MarathonGuide.com - Marathon Records|website=www.marathonguide.com}}</ref> She held the fastest time for an American woman at the [[Chicago Marathon]] for 32 years after winning the race in 1985.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://chicago-history.r.mikatiming.de/2015/ |title=Bank of America Chicago Marathon |website=chicago-history.r.mikatiming.de |access-date=2018-10-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.chicagomarathon.com/press-center/race-history/ |title=Race history - Bank of America Chicago Marathon |work=Bank of America Chicago Marathon |access-date=2018-10-24 |language=en-US}}</ref> Her time at the [[Boston Marathon]] was the fastest time by an American woman in that race for 28 years.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.active.com/running/articles/10-best-american-marathoners-of-all-time/slide-9 |title=10 Best American Marathoners of All Time |date=2014-08-12 |work=ACTIVE.com |access-date=2018-10-24 |language=en}}</ref> She was inducted into the [[Maine Women's Hall of Fame]] in 2000.

==Competitive life and Boston Marathon victories==
Born in [[Cape Elizabeth, Maine]], Benoit took to long-distance running to help recover from a broken leg suffered while [[slalom skiing]].<ref>[https://www.si.com/vault/1983/05/02/619619/the-marathons-maine-woman The Marathon's Maine woman], ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'', Kenny Moore, May 2, 1983. Retrieved October 3, 2018.</ref> At [[Bowdoin College]], she excelled in [[Athletics (sport)|athletics]]. In 1977, after two years at Bowdoin, she accepted a running scholarship to [[North Carolina State]], where she began concentrating solely on her running. She earned All-America honors at NC State in both 1977 and 1978. In 1978, she helped lead the [[NC State Wolfpack|Wolfpack]] to the [[Atlantic Coast Conference]] [[Cross country running|cross-country]] championship. She won the Broderick Award ([[Honda Sports Award]]) as the nation's best female collegiate cross-country runner for 1979–80.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.collegiatewomensportsawards.com/archives/cross_country |title=Cross Country |website=CWSA |language=en |access-date=2020-03-29}}</ref>

After returning to Bowdoin to complete her degree, she entered the 1979 Boston Marathon as a relative unknown. She won the race, wearing a [[Boston Red Sox]] cap,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.active.com/running/articles/a-goodbye-from-cool-running|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111025815/http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/3/3_1/olympic-champion-joan-ben.shtml |title=A Goodbye From Cool Running!|date=January 12, 2021|archive-date=January 11, 2012|website=ACTIVE.com}}</ref> in 2:35:15, knocking eight minutes off the competition record. In 1981, she captured the U.S. 10,000 meter championship, posting a time of 33:37.50. Despite having [[surgery]] on her [[Achilles tendon]]s two years earlier, she repeated her marathon success with a victory in 1983, setting a course record of 2:22:43. That took more than two minutes off the world's best time, set by Norway's [[Grete Waitz]] in the [[London Marathon]] only a day earlier. Her Boston record was not broken for another 11 years.<ref>''2004 Boston Marathon Media Guide'', published by Boston Athletic Association with John Hancock</ref>

==Olympic success and later life==
[[File:Joan Benoit (9516901513).jpg|thumb|left|Benoit in 1984]]
In March 1984, Benoit injured her knee during a 20-mile training run, forcing her to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery just 17 days before the United States Olympic Women's Marathon Trials were scheduled. However, she recovered from the surgery much more quickly than expected and was the favorite in the trials at [[Olympia, Washington]]. She beat runner-up [[Julie Brown (athlete)|Julie Brown]] by 30 seconds, winning in 2:31:04. Three months later, she competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, winning the first Olympic Women's Marathon in 2:24:52, several hundred meters ahead of [[Grete Waitz]], [[Rosa Mota]], and [[Ingrid Kristiansen]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.marathonguide.com/history/olympicmarathons/chapter26.cfm|title=Olympic Marathon Los Angeles 1984 XXIII Olympiad|website=www.marathonguide.com}}</ref>

Benoit enjoyed success at non-marathon distances as well, winning the prestigious [[Falmouth Road Race]] (7.1 miles), a total of six times (1976, 1978, 1981–1983, and 1985), breaking the course record on four of those occasions.

Although she won the 1985 [[Chicago]] marathon, defeating Kristiansen and Mota in an American Record time of 2:21:21 (that would last as the AR for 18 years until broken by [[Deena Kastor]] in 2003 in London),<ref>[http://chicagomarathon.runnersworld.com/2010/10/bank-of-america-chicago-marathon-what-you-need-to-know.html Bank of America Chicago Marathon: What You Need to Know] Retrieved October 9, 2010</ref> Benoit was hampered for some years after her Olympic victory by injuries and struggled to compete in major races. She received the 1985 [[James E. Sullivan Award]] as the top amateur athlete in the United States.

Benoit wrote ''Running Tide'' (1987) and ''Running for Women'' (1995).

In 1998, she founded the [[Beach to Beacon 10K]] Road Race, a {{convert|10|km|mi|abbr=on}} race held in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, each August, going from Crescent Beach State Park to Fort Williams Park and Portland Head Light. The race attracts many of the world's top distance runners. Elite runners often run this race and then, the following weekend, run the [[Falmouth Road Race]] on [[Cape Cod]], [[Massachusetts]]. Benoit won that race several times, and ran it last in 2022, finishing as the 69th woman overall and first in her age group.

In 2003, at age 46, Benoit won the Maine half-marathon, defeating a field dominated by runners two decades her junior, and she was faster than all but six men overall, finishing in 1:18. In 2006, she helped pace former cycling champion [[Lance Armstrong]] as he competed in the [[New York City Marathon]]. At the 2008 US [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] Team trials, at the age of 50, she finished in 2:49:08, setting a new US 50+ record and beating her personal goal at the time of a mid-2:50s marathon. When she ran the [[New York City Marathon]] on November 1, 2009, she broke the Senior Masters record for runners older than 50 with a final time of 2:49:09.<ref>[http://www.bowdoin.edu/news/archives/1bowdoincampus/006812.shtml Joan Benoit Samuelson '79 Sets NYC Marathon Record, Campus News (Bowdoin)]</ref> On October 10, 2010, she ran 2:47:50 for the 43rd place at the Chicago Marathon—the site of her American record a quarter century earlier—missing her goal of qualifying for an eighth Olympic Marathon Team Trials race by 1:50, but recording the fastest-ever performance by a woman over 52. Later that month, she ran in the Athens Classic Marathon for fun and finished in 3:02, the slowest time of her career; she was not fully healed from her Chicago performance.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.runnersworld.com/races/greek-for-a-day |title=Greek For a Day |date=2011-02-04 |work=Runner's World |access-date=2017-03-02 |language=en}}</ref> In April 2011, Joan competed in the Boston Marathon, completing the course in 2:51:29 and placing 1st in her age group. Between 2013 and 2015, Samuelson ran the Boston Marathon each year, setting three of the four fastest marathon times for the 55–59 age group.  None are recognized by the [[World Masters Athletics]] since the Boston Marathon course does not comply with IAAF regulations.  Her times are 2:50:33 (2013), 2:52:15 (2014), and 2:54:26 (2015).  In 2019, Benoit ran the Boston Marathon again, forty years after her 1979 win. She had hoped to be within 40 minutes of her 1979 time, but did even better than that with a time of 3:04:00, within thirty minutes of her winning time, again winning her age group (60–64).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2019/04/15/joan-benoit-samuelson-easily-meets-her-goal-marathon/PIx65Y1KgjEbnye4lPKTnK/story.html |title=Joan Benoit Samuelson easily meets her goal in 2019 Boston Marathon - The Boston Globe |last=Doherty |first=Matthew |website=BostonGlobe.com |access-date=2019-04-15}}</ref>

Winning the race four times, Benoit has run the [[Bix 7]] road race in [[Davenport, Iowa]], annually since 1983. A bronze statue of Benoit and [[Bill Rodgers (runner)|Bill Rodgers]] was erected near the Bix finish line in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://qctimes.com/sports/running/bix7/another-year-in-the-bix-th-quad-city-times-bix/article_b270d55e-8500-56b6-a86e-43fa209973c3.html | title=Another year in the Bix: 44th Quad-City Times Bix 7 'quite the sight' | first=Sarah | last=Ritter | date=July 28, 2018 | work=[[Quad-City Times]] | location=[[Davenport, Iowa]] | access-date=July 10, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://qctimes.com/sports/running/bix7/collection_28c18df8-96e9-5015-be05-415a74e44a7d.html|title=1999|website=Quad-City Times}}</ref>

Benoit resides in [[Freeport, Maine]],<ref name="usa_today_11_1_2009">{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2009-11-01-110667149_x.htm |title=Samuelson sets 50-plus record at NYC Marathon |date=November 1, 2002 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=USA Today |access-date=2009-11-02}}</ref> where the [[Freeport High School (Maine)|high school]] athletic complex is named the "Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field".<ref name="wgme-news-5-18-2018">{{cite news |url=http://wgme.com/news/local/freeport-opens-brand-new-track-and-field |title=Freeport opens brand new track and field |date=May 18, 2018 |agency=WGME-TV |publisher=CBS |access-date=2018-05-21}}</ref> In addition to her running, {{as of|2014|lc=y}}, she serves as a coach to women's [[Cross-country running|cross-country]] and long-distance athletes, and is a motivational speaker and sports commentator. She is featured on the Nike+ iPod system as one of the congratulatory voices. Benoit and her husband, Scott Samuelson, whom she met when they were both students at [[Bowdoin College]],<ref>Joni Averill, "Benoit Says She'll Keep on Running," ''Bangor Daily News'', September 12, 1984, p. 10.</ref> have two children, daughter Abby and son Anders, who are runners in their own right and shared the running of the 2014 Boston Marathon with their mother.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.runnersworld.com/races-places/a20851362/monday-a-special-day-for-samuelson-family/|title=Monday a Special Day for Samuelson Family|first=Amby|last=Burfoot|date=April 24, 2014|website=Runner's World}}</ref>

Benoit was inducted into the [[National Distance Running Hall of Fame]] in 1998, the [[Maine Women's Hall of Fame]] in 2000,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1914&dat=20000218&id=Ms0gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=p2oFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3791,3053388&hl=en |title=Benoit Samuelson named to Hall of Fame |date=February 18, 2000 |newspaper=[[Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine)|Sun Journal]] |page=C18}}</ref> the [[National Track and Field Hall of Fame]] in 2004 and the [[USATF Masters Hall of Fame]] in 2014. In 2017, a plaque honoring her was unveiled in the [[L.A. Memorial Coliseum]]'s Court of Honor.<ref>{{cite web |last=Latimer |first=Jolene |url=https://sports.good.is/articles/court-of-honor |title=Female Olympic Athletes Honored Over 50 Years Later &#124; GOOD Sports |publisher=Sports.good.is |date=2017-06-22 |access-date=2017-06-30}}</ref>

In 2019, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of her first Boston Marathon win, Benoit and her daughter Abby ran together as they had done in previous marathons. Joan recorded a run time of 3:04:00, which was within 40 minutes of her original time<ref>{{cite web |last=McArdle |first=Tommy |url=https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-marathon/2019/04/15/joan-benoit-samuelson-promise |title=Joan Benoit Samuelson made good on her 2019 Boston Marathon promise; Boston.com |publisher=Boston.com |date=2019-04-15 |access-date=2019-04-15}}</ref> which was a promise she had made prior to competing in that year's edition of the Boston Marathon. This allowed her to win her age group (60–64) by nearly nine minutes, but falling short of the overall (3:01:30) fastest time by a woman over 60 in a marathon.

==Marathoning achievements==
*<small>All results regarding marathon, unless stated otherwise</small>
{| {{AchievementTable}}
|-
!colspan="5"|Representing the {{USA}}
|-
|1978
|[[Bermuda Marathon]]
|[[Bermuda]]
|style="background: silver"  | 2nd
|2:50:54
|-
|1979
|[[Boston Marathon]]
|[[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston, United States]]
|style="background: gold"  | 1st
|2:35:15
|-
|1980
|[[Auckland Marathon]]
|[[Auckland|Auckland, New Zealand]]
|style="background: gold"  | 1st
|2:31:23
|-
|1981
|[[Boston Marathon]]
|[[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston, United States]]
| style="background:#c96;"| 3rd
|2:30:17
|-
|1982
|[[Nike OTC Marathon]]
|[[Eugene, Oregon|Eugene, United States]]
|style="background: gold"  | 1st
|2:26:12
|-
|1983
|[[Boston Marathon]]
|[[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston, United States]]
|style="background: gold"  | 1st
|2:22:43
|-
|1984
|[[Summer Olympics]]
|[[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles, United States]]
|style="background: gold"  | 1st
|2:24:52
|-
|1985
|[[Chicago Marathon]]
|[[Chicago]], United States
|style="background: gold"|1st
|2:21:21
|-
|1988
|[[New York City Marathon]]
|[[New York City, New York|New York City, United States]]
| style="background:#c96;"| 3rd
|2:32:40
|-
|1991
|[[Boston Marathon]]
|[[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston, United States]]
|style="background: white"| 4th
|2:26:54
|-
|1991
|[[New York City Marathon]]
|[[New York City, New York|New York City, United States]]
|style="background: white"|6th
|2:33:49
|-
|2013
|[[Boston Marathon]]
|[[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston, United States]]
|style="background: white"|47th (overall) <br /> 1st (AG)
|2:50:29
|-
|2019
|[[Boston Marathon]]
|[[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston, United States]]
|style="background: white"|245th (overall) <br /> 1st (AG)
|3:04:00
|}

AG = Samuelson is credited with winning her age group at the 2013 and 2019 Boston Marathon.  The 2013 race is the fastest marathon by a woman aged 55–59 but is not recognized by [[World Masters Athletics]] because Boston is not recognized under IAAF regulations as a world record qualifying marathon course.

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{World Athletics|name=Joan Benoit-Samuelson}}
* {{USATF|name=Joan Benoit Samuelson}}
* {{Team USA Hall of Fame|new_id=joan-benoit|old_id=Joan-Benoit|archive=20230720073202}}
* {{Olympics.com profile|joan-benoit|org_archive=20201029174919}}
* {{Olympedia|77757}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|rec}}
{{succession box|before={{flagicon|NOR}} [[Grete Waitz]]|title=[[Marathon world best progression|Women's marathon world record holder]]|years=18 April 1983 &ndash; 21 April 1985|after={{flagicon|NOR}} [[Ingrid Kristiansen]]}}
{{succession box|before={{flagicon|NED}} [[Marja Wokke]]<br />{{flagicon|NOR}} [[Grete Waitz]]|title=[[Half marathon world record progression#Women|Women's Half marathon World record holder]]|years=18 January 1981 &ndash; 15 May 1982<br />18 September 1983 &ndash; 9 March 1989|after={{flagicon|NOR}} [[Grete Waitz]]<br />{{flagicon|NOR}} [[Ingrid Kristiansen]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{National Distance Running Hall of Fame inductees}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions Marathon Women}}
{{Footer WBYP Marathon Women}}
{{Footer Pan American Champions 5000m Women}}
{{Footer Boston Marathon Champions Women}}
{{Footer Chicago Marathon Champions Women}}
{{Footer US NC 10000m Women}}
{{Sullivan Award winners}}
{{Maine Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1984 Summer Olympics}}
{{Honda Sports Award}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benoit, Joan}}
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Freeport, Maine]]
[[Category:People from Cape Elizabeth, Maine]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Cumberland County, Maine]]
[[Category:American women long-distance runners]]
[[Category:American women marathon runners]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1983 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:James E. Sullivan Award recipients]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:Bowdoin Polar Bears women's track and field athletes]]
[[Category:Boston Marathon women winners]]
[[Category:Chicago Marathon women winners]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Maine]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportswomen]]
[[Category:NC State Wolfpack women's track and field athletes]]
[[Category:NC State Wolfpack women's cross country runners]]
[[Category:American masters athletes]]