Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Women's marathon

Official Video on YouTube
Anderson-Schiess Video on YouTube

Women's marathon at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Venue	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Dates	August 5
Competitors	50 from 28 nations
Winning time	2:24:52
Medalists
Joan Benoit  United States Grete Waitz  Norway Rosa Mota  Portugal
1988 →

Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m	men	women
200 m	men	women
400 m	men	women
800 m	men	women
1500 m	men	women
3000 m		women
5000 m	men
10,000 m	men
100 m hurdles		women
110 m hurdles	men
400 m hurdles	men	women
3000 m steeplechase	men
4×100 m relay	men	women
4×400 m relay	men	women
Road events
Marathon	men	women
20 km walk	men
50 km walk	men
Field events
Long jump	men	women
Triple jump	men
High jump	men	women
Pole vault	men
Shot put	men	women
Discus throw	men	women
Javelin throw	men	women
Hammer throw	men
Combined events
Heptathlon		women
Decathlon	men
Wheelchair races
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The Women's Marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California (United States) was held on August 5, 1984. It was the first time a women's marathon had been held at the Olympic Games. The 50 competitors came from 28 countries. 44 finished the race.^[1] The world record holder Joan Benoit of the United States won the gold medal, with the silver medal going to the 1983 World champion Grete Waitz of Norway, and bronze to Rosa Mota of Portugal.

Strategically, the race was notable for Benoit making a bold move in only the third mile of the race, despite the August heat. The rest of the field did not try to keep pace with her, and Benoit maintained her lead all the way to finish, defeating Waitz by more than a minute.

Official Video Highlights of Gabriela Andersen-Schiess

The race was also notable for Gabriela Andersen-Schiess from Switzerland, who entered the stadium for the final lap in a state of almost total exhaustion, barely able to walk but eventually completing the race, collapsing at the finishing line and being immediately treated by medical personnel. She finished 37th.

Medalists[]

Gold	Joan Benoit  United States
Silver	Grete Waitz  Norway
Bronze	Rosa Mota  Portugal

Abbreviations[]

• All times shown are in hours:minutes:seconds

Records[]

Standing records prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics
World Record	Joan Benoit (USA)	2:22:43	April 18, 1983	Boston, United States
Olympic Record	New Event
	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	2:24:26	May 13, 1984	London, United Kingdom
Broken records during the 1984 Summer Olympics
Olympic Record	Joan Benoit (USA)	2:24:52	August 5, 1984	Los Angeles, United States

Final ranking[]

Place	Athlete	Time
	Joan Benoit (USA)	2:24:52
	Grete Waitz (NOR)	2:26:18
	Rosa Mota (POR)	2:26:57
4.	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	2:27:34
5.	Lorraine Moller (NZL)	2:28:34
6.	Priscilla Welch (GBR)	2:28:54
7.	Lisa Martin (AUS)	2:29:03
8.	Silvia Ruegger (CAN)	2:29:09
9.	Laura Fogli (ITA)	2:29:28
10.	Tuija Toivonen (FIN)	2:32:07
11.	Joyce Smith (GBR)	2:32:48
12.	Alba Milana (ITA)	2:33:01
13.	Dorthe Rasmussen (DEN)	2:33:40
14.	Sarah Rowell (GBR)	2:34:08
15.	Sinikka Keskitalo (FIN)	2:35:15
16.	Charlotte Teske (FRG)	2:35:56
17.	Anne Marie Malone (CAN)	2:36:33
18.	Midde Hamrin (SWE)	2:36:41
19.	Nanae Sasaki (JPN)	2:37:04
20.	Paola Moro (ITA)	2:37:06
21.	Ria Van Landeghem (BEL)	2:37:11
22.	Carla Beurskens (NED)	2:37:51
23.	Regina Joyce (IRL)	2:37:57
24.	Marie-Christine Deurbroeck (BEL)	2:38:01
25.	Maria Trujillo (MEX)	2:38:50
26.	Bente Moe (NOR)	2:40:52
27.	Mary O'Connor (NZL)	2:41:22
28.	Carey May (IRL)	2:41:27
29.	Francine Peeters (BEL)	2:42:22
30.	Zehava Shmueli (ISR)	2:42:27
31.	Winnie Ng (HKG)	2:42:38
32.	Monica Regonesi (CHI)	2:44:44
33.	Naydi Nazario (PUR)	2:45:49
34.	Yuko Gordon (HKG)	2:46:12
35.	Ena Guevara (PER)	2:46:50
36.	Julie Brown (USA)	2:47:33
37.	Gabriela Andersen-Schiess (SUI)	2:48:42
38.	Rita Borralho (POR)	2:50:58
39.	Conceição Ferreira (POR)	2:50:58
40.	Maria Cardenas (MEX)	2:51:03
41.	María Luisa Ronquillo (MEX)	2:51:04
42.	Nelly Chávez (BOL)	2:51:35
43.	Mary Wagaki (KEN)	2:52:00
44.	Eleonora de Mendonça (BRA)	2:52:19
—	Ifeoma Mbanugo (NGR)	DNF
—	Akemi Masuda (JPN)	DNF
—	Jacqueline Gareau (CAN)	DNF
—	Julie Isphording (USA)	DNF
—	Anne Audain (NZL)	DNF
—	Leda Díaz (HON)	DNF

See also[]

• 1982 Women's European Championships Marathon (Athens)
• 1983 Women's World Championships Marathon (Helsinki)
• 1986 Women's European Championships Marathon (Stuttgart)
• 1987 Women's World Championships Marathon (Rome)

References[]

External links[]

• (in English) sports-reference