Joan Benoit Samuelson
Track and Field · Hometown: Portland, ME
- High school
- Cape Elizabeth High School
- College
- Bowdoin College
- Hall of Fame
- ⭐ USA Track & Field Hall of Fame
Joan Benoit Samuelson was born in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and made history on August 5, 1984, when she crossed the finish line of the first-ever women's Olympic marathon at the Los Angeles Games — winning gold in 2:24:52 and becoming one of the most celebrated athletes in American history. She had undergone knee surgery just 17 days before the U.S. Olympic Trials and still won the trials and then the gold medal. Before the Olympics, she had already set the world record in the Boston Marathon (1983, 2:22:43). A fierce competitor whose understated Maine character belied her extraordinary drive, Benoit Samuelson continued competing into her sixties, running a sub-3:00 marathon at age 60 at the Chicago Marathon. She was inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1996 and remains the greatest distance runner ever produced by New England.