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Joan Benoit Samuelson
- Won the gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games, becoming the first women's marathon champion
- Three-time Boston Marathon winner (1979, 1983, 1985)
- Still holds the marathon world record set in 1985
- Won the 1985 James E. Sullivan Award, which is awarded to the top amateur athlete in the United States
- Began running to recover from a broken leg suffered while skiing
- Graduated from Bowdoin College and served on the Board of Trustees there
- Authored several books, including "Running Tide" and "Running for Women"
- Founded the Beach to Beacon Marathon Road Race
- Has maintained a Nike sponsorship since 1980
Today, Benoit Samuelson is an avid gardener. "Gardening started for me as a form of therapy to sort of air it out after running successes earlier in my career. After the Olympics it was one place where I could get away from the phone. Now it's become my obsession and running is my hobby!" she told fast-women.com
"I remember the thing that got me through the knee problems was that I seriously believed there was nobody out there training any harder than I was, and if there was a way I could get back out there I was going to do it because I didn't want all that trainging to go down the tubes," she told fast-women.com. "I can't say there was any secret to it except a lot of hard work. Guys who would run with me would comment 'Do you ever take an easy day?' I was just able to stand up to it."
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Born: May 16, 1957
Hometown: Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Resides: Freeport, Maine
Event: Marathon
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