Grete Waitz

For more information on Grete Waitz, visit Britannica.com.

Norwegian-born distance runner Grete Waitz (born 1953) has excelled in all forms of running, from track and field to middle-distance road racing to the marathon. She caught the eye of many in the sport in 1975, when she set a new world record for the 3,000 meters, and she caught the imagination of a nation when she won nine New York City Marathons. Waitz is also an Olympic-class runner, having earned a silver medal in the marathon event at the 1984 Olympic Games held in Los Angeles, California.

One of the most versatile female runners of the twentieth century, Norwegian-born Grete Waitz captured two world records in the 3,000 meter, as well as records in the 8-kilometer, 10-kilometer, and 15-kilometer distances and the longer 10-mile, and marathon high-endurance runs. Beginning her career as a track runner, Waitz retired from that specialty in 1978 only to begin a second career as a world-class distance runner following her record-breaking win at the New York Marathon.

The first daughter and youngest of three children born to pharmacist John Andersen and wife Reidun, Grete Andersen was born on October 1, 1953. Waitz grew up in suburban Oslo, Norway. Although she exhibited her athletic abilities at a young age with handball and gymnastics, her older brothers' sports training took precedence, creating a situation wherein young Waitz had to excel competitively in order to be recognized. Inspired by the life of U.S. sprinter Wilma Rudolph, who overcame juvenile polio to earn a bronze medal at the 1956 Olympics, the competitive Waitz began running as a way to keep up with her older brothers. She soon fell in love with the sport for its own sake, and by age eleven had been recruited for a local track team coached by Olympic javelin champion Terje Pedersen. As a teen she got up early in the morning to get in a speedwork session before leaving for school, but realized that her strength lay more in endurance than speed. Developing muscular strength, pacing, and quick foot turnover, she competed in local and regional events, winning the 16-year-old runner national junior titles in the 400 and 800 meters. A year later she set the European junior record in the 1,500 meter with a time of 4:17. This win confirmed Waitz's belief that her future lay in mastering the distance run.

Expanded Opportunities for Women
Runners

Her performance in national competition caused Waitz's parents to finally acknowledge their daughter's talent, and they began to support her career as an athlete. After qualifying, she competed in Munich's 1972 Olympics in the 1,500 meter, one of the first women allowed to compete in this event - up until 1960 when the women's 800-meter race was reinstated, women had been barred from any distance longer than 200 meters after two women fainted at the finish line during the 1928 Olympic games. Although she did not place in the event, she received encouragement from her fellow Olympic athletes, and realized that natural talent was not enough; she needed to begin more thorough training. Wisely, she came home to Oslo and began training as a high school physical education teacher; she also started a grueling training regime that included a restricted diet and a running schedule that found her logging an average of 75 miles each week on the track and on the road.

In 1974, four years after winning the Norwegian nationals, Waitz competed in the 1,500 meter at the European championships, taking home the bronze medal in that event. In 1975 she extended her race distance and established a new world record in the 3,000 meter with a time of 8:46.6. During her second Olympic try, in Montreal in 1976, Waitz was eliminated in the 1,500-meter semifinals. In 1977 she won a gold medal in the 3,000 meter at the first World Cup meet, shattering her own record and running a career best of 8:31:75. By the time she was 25, Waitz was the oldest woman on the Norwegian track team, and good naturedly bore up under the nickname "Grandma."

A strong runner, Waitz eventually became inhibited by the restrictions of the track. She gradually moved to longer distances on roads and unpaved trails, and won world cross-country titles five times, including in 1978, 1979, 1981, and 1983. Having graduated from teacher's college and now married to former accountant Jack Waitz, Grete balanced her athletic career with a full-time job teaching at Oslo's Bjölsen School. When not teaching, she channeled much of her free time into running the longer distances - up to 13 miles at a time - required of the cross-country runner, while also cross training and following the strict nutritional regimen demanded of an endurance athlete.

Waitz's talent as a runner - her world records of 30:59:8 in the 10,000 meter and 48:01 for the 15,000 meter - while not widely reported in the U.S. press, caught the attention of Fred Lebow, president of the New York Road Runners Club and director of the world-famous New York City Marathon since its inception in 1970. The New York Marathon, which started as a local race of 55 runners around Central Park, had grown in only a few years into a world-class event with a field of 25,000 that attracted top distance-runners from around the world to its course through the city's five boroughs. In 1978 Lebow contacted Waitz, asking her to come to the United States and race in his November marathon as part of a select group of elite, world-class athletes invited to race each year.

At the urging of her husband, Jack, Grete took Lebow up on his offer, even though she had never run - let alone raced - such a long distance before. What she did not realize, as she later told Peter Gambaccini of Runner's World Online, was that Lebow never for a moment believed that Waitz would finish the race. "He was enthusiastic about having me, but not because he thought I could do a good marathon," she explained of the man who would become her distance-running mentor and close friend. "He thought that with my background as a world class track runner, I would be a good pacesetter for the women's field and lend some international flavor to it, coming from Norway. He thought I'd set a good pace for the women so they could run a fast time, and I would probably drop out." On a chilly day in late October, wearing bib number 1173, she followed the course through New York's five boroughs, took the lead at the 18-mile mark, and won the marathon. Completing the first 13.1 miles in one hour 18 minutes, Waitz ran a "negative split" - she ran faster during the second half of the race - and broke the world record for the women's 26.2-mile event by two minutes with a time of 2:32:30. She also changed the course of her future.

Ironically, Waitz had entered the New York Marathon with the idea of retiring as a professional runner. During the grueling race, as the hours of pounding on New York's unforgiving pavements, exhaustion, and dehydration began to take their toll, by mile 20 she vowed never to run such a long distance again. Within months of her winning finish, however, she found herself embarking on a whole new running career, coached by the tireless Lebow. Leaving her position as a teacher and increasing her weekly training to upwards of 100 miles, running in the New York City Marathon became almost an annual event for Waitz; she went on to win eight more races during the decade that followed - in 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1988 - although she was forced out of the 1981 race due to shin splints. She also continued to challenge the course record, and in 1979 and 1980 upped the world record she had set for the marathon distance in 1978 - finishing 104th overall in 1979 with a time of 2:27:33, and in 1980, with a time of 2:25:41, becoming the first woman to complete the 26.2-mile marathon distance in under two and a half hours. Her victories were not hers alone, however; Waitz's performance in 1979 prompted an editorial in the New York Times that challenged races around the world to accept women in competition.

In addition to competing in the marathon distance in New York City, Waitz entered the field in 19 other marathons around the world, winning in 13 of these distance events between 1978 and 1988. She tied the world record of 2:25:29 in the London marathon in 1983, a banner year for the Norwegian-born athlete. Competing in the inaugural Women's World Championship Marathon held that same year in Helsinki, Waitz topped the all-female field by three minutes to win the gold, then went on to win the New York Marathon with 2:27:00. Setting a personal record of 2 hours 24 minutes 54 seconds at the London Marathon in 1986, Waitz won her final New York marathon in 1988 with a finish time of 2:28:07.

Encouraged by her triumphant performances in New York, Waitz hoped to qualify for her second Olympic competition in 1980. Unfortunately, that year Norway followed the lead of the United States in boycotting the Moscow Olympic Games. The Union of Soviet Specialist Republics (USSR) had invaded Afghanistan only the year before, and Norway joined several other nations in supporting U.S. President Jimmy Carter's forced withdrawal of all U.S. Olympic teams from the games. Cold War politics may have forced Waitz to put her Olympic dreams on hold, but she rallied and went on to win the international women's cross-country championships for the third year in a row, as well as set several other world records. Four years later, in 1984, she flew to Los Angeles to compete in the first women's marathon offered as part of the historic 1984 Olympics. Excited by the addition of woman's 3,000 meter and marathon distance events to the track portion of the games, Waitz was favored to win the gold based on her stellar performance the previous year at the world marathon championships. However, during the marathon run she was bested by U.S. runner and good friend Joan Benoit, who put in an extraordinary effort to win the gold; Waitz captured the silver medal for Norway.

Beyond Retirement

Although Waitz officially retired in 1991 after suffering a number of running-related injuries, like many distance runners the sport of running remained an important part of her life. Reducing her daily mileage to under ten miles and her weekly mileage to between 35 to 40 miles, she began to invest more time in cross training activities, such as joining her husband, Jack, in Nordic skiing, walking, and biking throughout Germany, Austria, and elsewhere in Europe.

Recognizing early in her career her potential as a role model for others, in 1986 Waitz coauthored the book World Class, in which she recounts her own rise in the sport and also provides women of all abilities with training, motivation, and racing advice. She also coauthored the book On the Run: Exercise and Fitness for Busy People. Beginning shortly after retirement, she also took on the role of fitness ambassador to women through her participation in the Avon Running Global Women's Circuit, held in major U.S. cities throughout the 1990s. Together with fellow veteran runner Kathrine Switzer - who in 1967, as the genderless K. V. Switzer, became the first registered woman to run the Boston Marathon, then closed to women - Waitz traveled to various races to meet, run, and encourage women of all levels - from walkers to beginners and above - along a 10-K course. She also became an official spokeswoman for Adidas, a running shoe and apparel manufacturer. She continued to maintain a presence in distance competition, running for five and a half hours alongside former coach Fred Lebow as he completed the New York Marathon course in 1992 while undergoing treatment for the brain cancer that would ultimately take his life.

In 1983, inspired by an all-woman 10-K race she had run in New York City and the encouragement of Lebow, Waitz inaugurated the Grete Waitz Run, a five-kilometer women's-only race through the streets of her hometown of Oslo. Over 3,000 runners turned out for the first race; by 1993 the field had expanded to 40,000, many of whom were inspired to begin running by Waitz. Waitz was honored for her many other contributions to distance running in the United States by the National Distance Running Hall of Fame, which inducted her as its first foreign member. In 1991 Runner's World magazine echoed that honor, naming Waitz as female runner of the quarter century. As Peter Gambaccini noted in that magazine, "almost single-handedly" Waitz established "the standard for women's distance running as the sport began to proliferate on American roads."

A modest, down-to-earth woman, Waitz has always been somewhat uncomfortable with her celebrity status. "To suddenly be a hero on a world basis was hard for me to understand," she admitted to Runner's World in reflecting on her career. "God gave me a gift. I got the chance to use it.… I didn't think I deserved what people were saying. My talent is just more visible than theirs." Continuing her role as ambassador for women's running, Waitz and her husband continue to divide their time between in Oslo and their home in Florida. Continuing her support of personal health and fitness, she donates her time to CARE International and the International Special Olympics. She has also remained active in the New York Marathon organization by acting as chairperson of the group's Women's Foundation, which encouraged running among inner city children. In November of 2003, she once again took to the streets of New York in celebration of the 25th anniversary of her historic win, however this time she was not on foot. As grand marshal, she rode in the woman's lead vehicle, in her accustomed spot at the head of the pack.

Books

Drinkwater, Barbara L., Female Endurance Athletes, Human Kinetics, 1986.

Great Women in Sports, Visible Ink Press, 1996.

Waitz, Grete, with Gloria Averbuch, World Class, Warner Books, 1986.

Periodicals

New York Times, October 22, 1979.

Runner's World, December, 1991.

Sports Illustrated, October 22, 1979.

Women's Sports, January 1979, March 1980, January 1981.

Online

Amazon.com,http://www.amazon.com/ (June 9, 2004).

DistanceRunning.com,http://www.distancerunning.com/inductees/2000/waitz.html (June 9, 2004).

Runner's World Online,http://www.runnersworld.com/home/0,1300,1-0-0-2031,00.html (June 9, 2004).

Quotes:

"For every finish-line tape a runner breaks -- complete with the cheers of the crowd and the clicking of hundreds of cameras -- there are the hours of hard and often lonely work that rarely gets talked about."

Medal record
Women's Athletics
Competitor for  Norway
Olympic Games
Silver	1984 Los Angeles	Marathon
World Championships
Gold	1983 Helsinki	Marathon

Grete Waitz (born October 1, 1953) is a former Norwegian marathon runner who won nine New York City Marathons between 1978 and 1988, more than any other runner in history. She also won a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and a gold medal at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland.

Contents 1 Background 2 Career 3 After Retirement 4 Legacy 5 References 6 Audio interview 7 External links

Background

Born Grete Andersen in Oslo, Norway, Waitz was a talented youngster in athletics, but had difficulty in getting her parents to take her potential profession seriously. This was a time when female athletes were not given the necessary support and funding needed to compete at the top level. However, Waitz did run at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich in the 1500 metres, and to support her athletic career she studied at a teachers college.

Career

In her teen years, Waitz won national junior titles in Norway in the 400 and 800 meters. At age 17 she set the European junior record for 1,500 meters with a time of 4:17, winning a bronze medal at the European Championships in this event in 1974. In 1975 Waitz broke the 3000 metres world record, running 8:46.6 in Oslo. In Oslo a year later she lowered this record with an 8:45.4 effort, then in 1977 she won a gold medal at this distance at the inaugural IAAF World Cup in Athletics meet in Düsseldorf with a personal best time of 8:31.75. Her final track race was a victory at 5,000 meters in Oslo in June 1982 where her 15:08.80 was the 2nd best in history, falling only half a second short of the women's world record set three weeks earlier by Mary Slaney.

It was in 1978 that her association with the New York Marathon began; she was invited to run there by race co-founder and director Fred Lebow and in her first marathon effort not only won but took a full two minutes off of the women's world record. She went on to win the race nine times and broke the world record three years in a row. In all, she lowered the women's world record by an astonishing nine minutes, taking the standard from Christa Vahlensieck's 2:34:47 down to 2:32:30 (1978), 2:27:33 (1979), 2:25:41 (1980), and finally to the 2:25:29 that Waitz ran at London in 1983. Besides her victories in New York, Waitz also won the London Marathon in 1983 and 1986 (the latter in a personal best of 2:24:54).

Waitz enjoyed much success on the road at non-marathon distances as well, including a win at the Falmouth Road Race in 1980, four victories at the prestigious 10K Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, five wins at the L'eggs Mini-Marathon in New York, and world road records at 8K (25:03), twice in the 10K (31:16 in 1979, then later to 30:59), 15K (48:01) and 10 mile distances. Waitz further demonstrated her versatility by successfully competing in cross country, winning the IAAF World Cross Country Championships five times, (1978-1981 and 1983), tying her with Doris Brown Heritage for most wins in the history of women's International/World Cross Country Championships.

The only significant award she did not garner in her storied career was an Olympic victory. As an up and coming 19 year old in Munich and then a 23 year old running the 1,500 meters in Montreal (the longest event allowed for women in the Olympics up until 1984) she competed but did not medal in an event that was far short of her specialty. In 1980, Norway was one of the countries that decided to boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. At the 1984 Summer Olympics she was beaten by Joan Benoit and placed second to win the silver medal in the marathon. In the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, a bad knee forced her to drop out of the women's marathon just after passing the 18 mile mark. She did win a gold medal and attained the title of world champion, however, when she won the marathon at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki.

After Retirement

Although not competing at the top level, Waitz still runs in and organises corporate races in which she aims to give advice and information on distance running and health. She also does charity work, particularly for the CARE International and the International Special Olympics. In June 2005 it was publicly known that she was undergoing treatment for cancer. She also coached Liz McColgan. For more than 25 years, Waitz has served as the ambassador for the worldwide JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge Series, promoting health and wellness to full-time workers. She provides regular training and motivational tips at [1].

In August 2009 it was revealed that Waitz had initiated a co-operation between her old main sponsor, Adidas, and the cancer care foundation she started in 2007 - "Aktiv mot kreft". The co-operation would mean that the cancer care foundation would get 5% of the proceeds from Adidas' sale of their Grete Waitz and Modern Classics collections. This could be as much as NOK 500 million per year, which would go to the establishment of hospital physical training centres and investment in PET-scanners.^[1]

Legacy

Waitz is widely acknowledged as helping to promote marathon and long-distance running for women. In Norway she is a sporting legend, with an annual race named after her in her honor. The New York Road Runners club annually sponsors "Grete's Great Gallop," a half-marathon, in her honor.

There is a statue of her in the Norway pavilion in EPCOT at the Walt Disney World Resort

There is also a statue of her outside the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, and she has been featured on a set of stamps.

On 23 November 2008 Waitz had the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, First Class, bestowed upon her by King Harald V of Norway in recognition of her being an important role model.^[2]

References

1. ^ Kristiansen, Wanda (16 August 2009). "Kreftstiftelse kan tjene milliarder med Grete Waitz" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten. http://e24.no/medier-og-reklame/article3218118.ece. Retrieved 16 August 2009. 
2. ^ "King's honours to Grete Waitz". Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation/Aftenposten (The Norway Post). 23 November 2008. http://www.norwaypost.no/Sport/King-s-honours-to-Grete-Waitz/menu-id-29.html. Retrieved 23 November 2008. 

Audio interview

• TheFinalSprint.com's interview with running pioneer Grete Waitz

External links

• Biography of Grete Waitz

v • d • e National Distance Running Hall of Fame – Class of 2000 Classes: 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2005 • 2006 • 2008 Clarence DeMar • Steve Prefontaine • Alberto Salazar • Grete Waitz

v • d • e IAAF World/Continental Cup Champions in Women's 3000 m  1977: Grete Waitz (NOR)  •  1979: Svetlana Ulmasova (URS)  •  1981: Angelika Zauber (GDR)  •  1985: Ulrike Bruns (GDR)  •  1989: Yvonne Murray (GBR)  •  1992: Derartu Tulu (ETH)  •  1994: Yvonne Murray (GBR)  •  1998: Gabriela Szabo (ROM)  •  2002: Berhane Adere (ETH)  •  2006: Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)

v • d • e IAAF Women's World Cross Country Champions Short Course  1998: Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL)  •  1999: Jackline Maranga (KEN)  •  2000: Kutre Dulecha (ETH)  •  2001: Gete Wami (ETH)  •  2002 – 2004: Edith Masai (KEN)  •  2005: Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)  •  2006: Gelete Burka (ETH) Long Course  1973 – 1974: Paola Pigni (ITA)  •  1975: Julie Brown (USA)  •  1976 – 1977: Carmen Valero (ESP)  •  1978 – 1981: Grete Waitz (NOR)  •  1982: Maricica Puică (ROM)  •  1983: Grete Waitz (NOR)  •  1984: Maricica Puică (ROM)  •  1985 – 1986: Zola Budd (GBR)  •  1987: Annette Sergent (FRA)  •  1988: Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)  •  1989: Annette Sergent (FRA)  •  1990 – 1992: Lynn Jennings (USA)  •  1993: Albertina Dias (POR)  •  1994: Hellen Chepngeno (KEN)  •  1995: Derartu Tulu (ETH)  •  1996: Gete Wami (ETH)  •  1997: Derartu Tulu (ETH)  •  1998: Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL)  •  1999: Gete Wami (ETH)  •  2000: Derartu Tulu (ETH)  •  2001 – 2002: Paula Radcliffe (GBR)  •  2003: Werknesh Kidane (ETH)  •  2004: Benita Johnson (AUS)  •  2005 – 2006: Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)  •  2007: Lornah Kiplagat (NED)  •  2008: Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)  •  2009: Florence Kiplagat (KEN)  •

v • d • e World Champions in Women's Marathon 1983: Grete Waitz (NOR)  · 1987: Rosa Mota (POR)  · 1991: Wanda Panfil (POL)  · 1993: Junko Asari (JPN)  · 1995: Manuela Machado (POR)  · 1997: Hiromi Suzuki (JPN)  · 1999: Jong Song-Ok (PRK)  · 2001: Lidia Simon (ROM)  · 2003: Catherine Ndereba (KEN)  · 2005: Paula Radcliffe (GBR)  · 2007: Catherine Ndereba (KEN)  · 2009: Bai Xue (CHN)

v • d • e London Women's Marathon Winners  1981 – 1982: Joyce Smith (GBR)  •  1983: Grete Waitz (NOR)  •  1984 – 1985: Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)  •  1986: Grete Waitz (NOR)  •  1987 – 1988: Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)  •  1989: Véronique Marot (GBR)  •  1990: Wanda Panfil (POL)  •  1991: Rosa Mota (POR)  •  1992 – 1994: Katrin Dörre (GER)  •  1995: Małgorzata Sobańska (POL)  •  1996: Liz McColgan (GBR)  •  1997: Joyce Chepchumba (KEN)  •  1998: Catherina McKiernan (IRL)  •  1999: Joyce Chepchumba (KEN)  •  2000: Tegla Loroupe (KEN)  •  2001: Derartu Tulu (ETH)  •  2002 – 2003: Paula Radcliffe (GBR)  •  2004: Margaret Okayo (KEN)  •  2005: Paula Radcliffe (GBR)  •  2006: Deena Kastor (USA)  •  2007: Zhou Chunxiu (CHN)  •  2008: Irina Mikitenko (Ger)  •  2009: Irina Mikitenko (GER) World Marathon Majors: Berlin Marathon - List (M/W) · Boston Marathon - List (M/W) · Chicago Marathon - List (M/W) · London Marathon - List (M/W) · New York Marathon - List (M/W)

v • d • e New York City Women's Marathon Winners  1971: Elizabeth Bonner (USA) •  1972—1973: Nina Kuscsik (USA) •  1974: Kathrine Switzer (USA) •  1975: Kim Merritt (USA) •  1976—1977: Miki Gorman (USA) •  1978—1980: Grete Waitz (NOR) •  1981: Allison Roe (NZL) •  1982—1986: Grete Waitz (NOR) •  1987: Priscilla Welch (GBR) •  1988: Grete Waitz (NOR) •  1989: Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) •  1990: Wanda Panfil (POL) •  1991: Liz McColgan (GBR) •  1992: Lisa Ondieki (AUS) •  1993: Uta Pippig (GER) •  1994—1995: Tegla Loroupe (KEN) •  1996: Anuţa Cătună (ROM) •  1997: Franziska Rochat-Moser (SUI) •  1998: Franca Fiacconi (ITA) •  1999: Adriana Fernández (MEX) •  2000: Lyudmila Petrova (RUS) •  2001: Margaret Okayo (KEN) •  2002: Joyce Chepchumba (KEN) •  2003: Margaret Okayo (KEN) •  2004: Paula Radcliffe (GBR) •  2005—2006: Jeļena Prokopčuka (LAT) •  2007—2008: Paula Radcliffe (GBR) World Marathon Majors: Berlin Marathon - List (M/W) · Boston Marathon - List (M/W) · Chicago Marathon - List (M/W) · London Marathon - List (M/W) · New York Marathon - List (M/W)

v • d • e Stockholm Women's Marathon Winners  1979: Heide Brenner (FRG) •  1980 – 1982: Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) •  1983: Tuulikki Räisänen (SWE) •  1984: Ria Van Landeghem (BEL) •  1985: Jeanette Nordgren (SWE) •  1986 – 1987: Evy Palm (SWE) •  1988: Grete Waitz (NOR) •  1989: Evy Palm (SWE) •  1990 – 1991: Marie-Louise Hamrin (SWE) •  1992: Linda Milo (BEL) •  1993: Grete Kirkeberg (NOR) •  1994: Irina Sklarenko (UKR) •  1995: Ingmarie Nilsson (SWE) •  1996: Grete Kirkeberg (NOR) •  1997: Anita Håkenstad (NOR) •  1998: Grete Kirkeberg (NOR) •  1999 – 2000: Marie Söderström-Lundberg (SWE) •  2001: Esther Kiplagat (KEN) •  2002: Lena Gavelin (SWE) •  2003: Marie Söderström-Lundberg (SWE) •  2004: Rita Jeptoo (KEN) •  2005: Tina Maria Ramos (ESP) •  2006: Anna Rahm (SWE) •  2007: Kirsten Melkevik Otterbu (NOR) •  2008: Isabellah Andersson (SWE)

Records
Preceded by Lyudmila Bragina	Women's 3.000m World Record Holder June 24, 1975 – August 7, 1976	Succeeded by Lyudmila Bragina
Preceded by Christa Vahlensieck	Women's Marathon World Record Holder October 22, 1978 – October 25, 1981	Succeeded by Allison Roe
Preceded by Allison Roe	Women's Marathon World Record Holder April 17, 1983 – April 18, 1983	Succeeded by Joan Benoit
Preceded by Joan Benoit	Women's Half Marathon World Record Holder 1982-05-15 – 1983-09-18	Succeeded by Joan Benoit
Sporting positions
Preceded by Lyudmila Bragina	Women's 3.000m Best Year Performance 1975	Succeeded by Lyudmila Bragina
Preceded by Lyudmila Bragina	Women's 3.000m Best Year Performance 1977 – 1979	Succeeded by Yelena Sipatova
Preceded by Ingrid Kristiansen	Women's Fastest Marathon Race 1986	Succeeded by Ingrid Kristiansen

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