Joan Benoit

Los Angeles was host to the Summer Olympics 25 years ago. This ninth part of a 16-day series looks back at Saturday, Aug. 5, 1984: The big news No one said marathons are easy, what with 26.2 miles and a few thousand calories to burn, but American Joan Benoit made it look that way. Benoit won the first women's marathon in Olympic history in style, running the third fastest women's marathon ever at the time, 2 hours 24 minutes 52 seconds.

1984 Olympics: An article looking back at Day 9 of the 1984 Olympics that was published in Wednesday's Sports section said Joan Benoit won the women's marathon 17 days after knee surgery. Her surgery, however, was in April 1984 and she won the Olympic trials 17 days later.

Joan Benoit, the women's Olympic marathon champion and last Sunday's San Francisco Bay-to-Breakers foot-race winner in the female division, waved to some 100,000 or more fellow runners, friends, and spectators at the award ceremony, her hand ludicrously gloved with red lobster potholders. The quiet Mainer had caught the spirit of the wackiest race in the world--and the crowd roared its approval.

Los Angeles was host to the Summer Olympics 25 years ago. This ninth part of a 16-day series looks back at Saturday, Aug. 5, 1984: The big news No one said marathons are easy, what with 26.2 miles and a few thousand calories to burn, but American Joan Benoit made it look that way. Benoit won the first women's marathon in Olympic history in style, running the third fastest women's marathon ever at the time, 2 hours 24 minutes 52 seconds.

Joan Benoit, ever the symbol of taciturn coolness, bristled at the impertinence of the question. The shy New Englander was already out of her element at an uninhibited San Francisco press conference before the Bay to Breakers last month. Now, as reporters elbowed toward the athletes seated at the back of the packed restaurant, Benoit winced. A week before, at a similar gathering in New York, Benoit had said that her training since the Olympics had been generally frustrating.

Joan Benoit will compete in America's-Marathon-Chicago Oct. 20. It will be her first marathon since winning the gold medal in the Los Angeles Olympics last year.

1984 Olympics: An article looking back at Day 9 of the 1984 Olympics that was published in Wednesday's Sports section said Joan Benoit won the women's marathon 17 days after knee surgery. Her surgery, however, was in April 1984 and she won the Olympic trials 17 days later.

If you were a commentator and the topic was women's athletics, you couldn't go wrong on this day. First, Joan Benoit -- now Joan Benoit Samuelson -- thrilled those who had welcomed the inclusion of a women's marathon in the Olympics, despite critics who'd said women weren't physically strong enough. For Benoit, the New Englander recovering from recent knee surgery, this women's marathon was a breeze.

Joan Benoit's first passage through the Los Angeles Coliseum tunnel did not come on the morning she carried the United States to triumph in the first-ever women's Olympic marathon. It actually came one week earlier--a journey less rigorous than the 26.2-mile footrace known as a marathon--but one that, in her mind, foreshadowed the victory to follow.

If you were a commentator and the topic was women's athletics, you couldn't go wrong on this day. First, Joan Benoit -- now Joan Benoit Samuelson -- thrilled those who had welcomed the inclusion of a women's marathon in the Olympics, despite critics who'd said women weren't physically strong enough. For Benoit, the New Englander recovering from recent knee surgery, this women's marathon was a breeze.

For more than two hours, she ran alone, the way she liked it, the way she did during her solitary training runs at home in Freeport, Maine. The Marina Freeway became her personal diamond lane for a lonely three miles, the pack far behind her and no spectators permitted along that stretch of the course. The giant mural bearing her likeness joined her for a few moments, placed there by her shoe-company sponsor, providing silent inspiration.

Joan Benoit's first passage through the Los Angeles Coliseum tunnel did not come on the morning she carried the United States to triumph in the first-ever women's Olympic marathon. It actually came one week earlier--a journey less rigorous than the 26.2-mile footrace known as a marathon--but one that, in her mind, foreshadowed the victory to follow.

When Joan Benoit won the women's Olympic marathon trial in 1984, only 17 days after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery--and later went on to take the gold in Los Angeles in the inaugural Olympic women's marathon--it was labeled a miracle. This year, with the women's Olympic marathon trial in Pittsburgh just four weeks away, Benoit--now Joan Samuelson--says she apparently may have run out of miracles.

The wind whips off Lake Michigan, roars down the streets lined with skyscrapers and uncollected rubbish, and knifes its way to the bone of chilly Chicagoans. It is raining and unexpectedly cold on the eve of America's Marathon. The weather, to a certain extent, mirrors the feelings between two of the favorites in the women's race: Cold.

When Joan Benoit won the women's Olympic marathon trial in 1984, only 17 days after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery--and later went on to take the gold in Los Angeles in the inaugural Olympic women's marathon--it was labeled a miracle. This year, with the women's Olympic marathon trial in Pittsburgh just four weeks away, Benoit--now Joan Samuelson--says she apparently may have run out of miracles.

"But it all depends on how I feel. Right now, I just don't know what's going to happen." 'The down days . . . they're very frustrating. I've been fighting to try and keep my mileage where I want it. But my body says no.' --JOAN BENOIT Joan Benoit has gone from being a super runner to a super-confused runner. A year ago, she was being hailed as the world's best women's long-distance runner after winning the U.S.

Joan Benoit will compete in America's-Marathon-Chicago Oct. 20. It will be her first marathon since winning the gold medal in the Los Angeles Olympics last year.

Joan Benoit, ever the symbol of taciturn coolness, bristled at the impertinence of the question. The shy New Englander was already out of her element at an uninhibited San Francisco press conference before the Bay to Breakers last month. Now, as reporters elbowed toward the athletes seated at the back of the packed restaurant, Benoit winced. A week before, at a similar gathering in New York, Benoit had said that her training since the Olympics had been generally frustrating.