Grete Waitz (1953–2011,) née Grete Andersen, was a Norwegian marathoner who dominated women’s long-distance running for more than a decade. She won the New York City Marathon nine times 1978–88 and the silver medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Born in Oslo, Waitz was the youngest of three sporting siblings. She advanced swiftly as a young athlete, attributing her early success to the competition for attention with her two elder brothers.
Waitz rose to prominence in 1975, when she set a world record at 3,000 meters (9:34.2; she beat that record in 1977, 8:46.6.) For over a decade, she rivaled Ingrid Kristiansen as the world’s most excellent female distance runner. Waitz set a unique four world-best times for the marathon.
In 1979, Waitz became the first woman to run the New York City marathon in below two and a half hours. By 1983, she had brought her time down to 2:25.29. As a marathon winner at the inaugural world championships in 1983, she became the first ever-official world champion at any event.
Waitz retired in 1990 after finishing fourth in her last New York City Marathon. An unassuming, private person, she motivated women at all levels of ability to become runners.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Grete Waitz
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.
—Grete Waitz
Topics: Practice
Leave a Reply