Frank Thomas

Waitz Notable Sports Figures
Grete Waitz
ing to Sandrock, she told them it was the distance between
Oslo and a town that was 26 miles away. They
were shocked.
In 1979, now a running star, Waitz quit teaching in
order to run full-time. She knew that, if she could set a
world record in the marathon despite being totally unprepared
for the distance, she could do even better if she
trained for it. She went on to win the New York City
marathon eight more times; she won 13 of 19 marathons
that she entered between 1978 and 1988. In 1979, 1980,
and 1983 she set new world records in the event. She
won the World Marathon Championships in 1983, beating
the second-place runner by three minutes. In that
same year, Waitz founded the 5-km Grete Waitz Run in
Oslo, Norway; 3,000 runners participated.
1700
Awards and Accomplishments
1975 World record, 3000 meters, 8:46.6
1976 World record, 3000 meters, 8:45.4
1978 Winner, New York City Marathon
1978 World record, marathon, 2:32.30
1978 World cross-country champion
1979 World record, 10 miles, 53:05
1979 Winner, New York City Marathon
1979 World record, marathon, 2:27.33
1980 World record, 10K, 31:00
1980 Winner, New York City Marathon
1980 World record, marathon, 2:25.41
1981 World cross-country champion
1982 Winner, New York City Marathon
1983 Winner, New York City Marathon
1983 World record, marathon, 2:25.29
1983 Winner, world marathon championships
1983 World cross-country champion
1984 Winner, New York City Marathon
1984 World record, 15K, 47:53
1984 Silver medal, marathon, Los Angeles Olympics
1985 Winner, New York City Marathon
1986 Winner, New York City Marathon
1986 World record, 8K, 25:03
1988 Winner, New York City Marathon
2000 Inducted into Distance Running Hall of Fame
Wins Silver in Los Angeles Olympics
In 1984, Waitz went to the Los Angeles Olympics.
That year was the first that women were allowed to compete
in the marathon. Previously many observers believed
the event was too grueling for women to complete,
but in the preceding 15 years women, including Waitz,
had proved this prejudice wrong by performing strongly
in non-Olympic marathons. Waitz was expected to win,
but came in second to Joan Benoit Samuelson, winning a
silver medal. Waitz did not make excuses for coming in
second, but praised Benoit for her excellent race. She
was relieved to have finally won an Olympic medal: now
the pressure for her to win one for Norway was gone.
Waitz ran in the 1988 Olympic Marathon in Seoul,
Korea but did not finish the race, hampered by knee
surgery she had undergone before the race. Later that
year, however, she made a comeback, winning the New
York City Marathon for the ninth time. “Everything
feels good,” she said before the race, according to Marc
Bloom in Runner’s World. American runner Joan Benoit
Samuelson, who came in third, told Bloom, “Losing to
Grete is an honor. She owns New York.” In 1990, Waitz
retired from competition to devote her time to serving as
a spokesperson for women’s sports.
Since retiring from competition, Waitz has used her
ability to help others who have difficulty in running. In
1992, Waitz ran the New York City Marathon with Fred
Lebow, who was suffering from brain cancer. Because
of his illness, he could only run very slowly, and the two
took 5 hours, 32 minutes and 34 seconds to complete the