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Still reigning Samuelson looking to make one more Olympic team
Posted: Friday February 25, 2000 11:01 AM
LUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Joan Benoit Samuelson has been the queen of the sport since winning the first women's Olympic marathon in 1984. She isn't ready to give up the throne just yet. Samuelson is taking one final stab at making the U.S. Olympic team in Saturday's women's Olympic marathon trials. "This will be my last chance," she said. Her chances of finishing in the top three are considered remote. After all, she's 42, hasn't run a marathon in 15 months or won one in eight years, ran her best time 15 years ago and has a difficult time just recovering from training runs. Yet she remains passionate about running. "I want to improve on my performance of '96," Samuelson said of her 13th-place finish in 2 hours, 36 minutes, 54 seconds, more than 15 minutes slower than her American record of 2:21:21 at Chicago in 1985. "These are all women I respect, and this is 2000, and I want to be a part of it. It's a challenge. You need to take risks, and you need to feed the soul." She was such an integral part of the inaugural women's Olympic marathon at Los Angeles 16 years ago. Only 17 days before the trials, she had arthroscopic surgery on her right knee, which had been locking up because of a buildup in the joints. Three days later, after rushing back into training, she strained her left hamstring while compensating for her tender right leg. For the next 11 days, she swam, cycled, ran and underwent treatment for 6-10. Then, three days before the race, she completed a 15-mile test run. Still, even while approaching the starting line in Olympia, Wash., she didn't know whether she could finish. Not only did she finish, she won at 2:31:04 in a race she called more difficult than the Olympics. Twelve weeks later, wearing her conventional white painter's cap, she won the gold medal at 2:24:52, beating a field that included such esteemed marathoners as Grete Waitz, Rosa Mota and Ingrid Kristiansen. The victory assured Samuelson's spot in Olympic and marathon history. Since then, Samuelson has competed in only one trials race, her discouraging finish four years ago. She had no intention of trying again until three months ago, when marathoner Julia Kirtland "pushed me to run." "I did four long runs with her," Samuelson said. "I give her a lot of credit for inspiring me." Samuelson lives in Freeport, Maine, and the cold, icy winter weather there is not conducive to running. "I've been training in temperatures below 20 degrees and many times below zero," she said. "With the wind chill factor, it's been minus 30." Still, Samuelson reportedly has been doing some of her best workouts in years, even though her mileage is not as high as in the past and "I don't recover from workouts as quickly as I did 16, 17, 18 or 19 years ago," she said. Just her presence in the race has created curiosity and heightened interest. "It's exciting to see her there," said Allan Steinfeld, director of the New York City Marathon. "She engenders something special. "I don't know if she'll make the top three, but she's always been competitive. There have been some up-and-coming stars in the sport, but she's been a mentor to them." Kathy Switzer, head of the Avon Running Program and the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, called Samuelson's entry "wonderful." "It shows that age is no barrier," Switzer said. "It's a triumph for the over-40 women. It's a testimony to the baby boomers who refuse to take age lying down." Libbie Hickman, the race favorite, also welcomed Samuelson. "It's fantastic," Hickman said. "There haven't been a lot of fast American times, so she could get in there. She knows how to race. She's been there." While Samuelson still focuses on her running, it has become secondary to her family -- her husband Scott, and her children, Abigail, 12, and Anders, 10. "With children and marriage, my priorities have changed," she said. "The most important thing is to have a healthy balance with everything you do in life." Samuelson keeps that balance in perspective by being an avid skier, a soccer mom, helping with charitable work, promoting athletic events, filming TV ads and doing speaking engagements. "I tell youngsters I do what I do because I'm happy doing it," she said. She's happy running -- and that's why she's competing Saturday.
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