Joan Benoit entered the 1984 Olympic women's marathon in Los Angeles knowing that Norwegian all-time greats Grete Waitz and Ingrid Kristiansen were the favorites to win. The hot conditions convinced Waitz and Kristiansen to run a slower than usual pace when the gun sounded, while Benoit chose to ignore the conditions. Running aggressively from the beginning, Benoit covered the distance between 10 km and 20 km in a brisk 33:08, which gave her a 400m lead she would never relinquish. At 30 km her lead increased to close to two minutes over the world-class field.

Benoit crossed the finish line some 400 meters in front of Waitz to become the first women's Olympic marathon champion in history and instantly inspiring millions to take up distance running. Her winning time of 2 hours, 24 minutes, 52 seconds was then the third-fastest ever.

A two-time winner of the Boston Marathon and the first woman ever to win both the Olympic and Boston Marathons, Benoit Samuelson will join Michael Johnson in being inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame December 3, 2004 in Portland.

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