On the 35th anniversary of Samuelson’s historic win, we’re looking back on what pushed her to that Olympic finish line, paving a path for so many women after her. That was the moment when women's running worldwide moved from the margins to the mainstream.Īs with all such key moments in history, it was made seminal by a conjunction of factors: when, what, where, who. Even more than a symbol, the message Samuelson gave as she moved from obscurity to acclaim triggered a transformation that 35 years later is still gaining momentum. The moment when Joan Benoit Samuelson emerged into the sunlight of the Los Angeles Olympic stadium was the perfect symbol for how far women’s running had come. Joan Benoit Samuelson Aiming for Sub-3:00 in 2020.*MILES TO GO is being released in honor of Women’s History Month, and on the 50th Anniversary of the 1972 passage of Title IX of the Civil Rights Act. Joan has run over 160,000 miles in her life… and counting. This is the story of Joan Benoit Samuelson’s incredible journey to the Olympics and of the other women who paved the way and competed against her, whose passion for running also became a race for equality - and change - that continues today. Before that, they were hardly even allowed on the track. And before that, women in the US were prohibited from competing in runs of more than a few miles. In fact, US marathons had been open to women for only a decade. But the Olympics were a last barrier for female distance runners, making the first women’s marathon at the Games a major milestone. For much of the 20th century, America’s cinder tracks and open roads became unlikely battlegrounds for a handful of pioneering women runners who broke the gender barrier in races, showing that women can be athletes too, and helped to advance women’s civil rights. The history of women’s distance running is a largely untold story of triumph over discrimination. But on August 5th, there were a lot of firsts. No runner had ever attacked so early and won an Olympic marathon. When Joan Benoit Samuelson broke away from the lead pack at mile 3, it was a shocker. Until this day, women had never been allowed to run even a mile at the Games, much less a marathon. On August 5, 1984, millions of people around the world watched the first ever women’s Olympic marathon live on ABC.
The first Olympic women's marathon and the battle for the right to run
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