After a Dominating Marathon Debut at the Olympic Trials, Fiona O’Keeffe is Ready to Take on the World in Paris
Fiona O’Keeffe surged to the lead at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials — Marathon and went on to win the 26.2-mile race.
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Athlete Bio#
Age
67
Hometown
Cape Elizabeth, ME
Education
Cape Elizabeth High School (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) North Carolina State University, Bowdoin College
Quick Facts
- Began running as recovery for a leg injury she sustained from skiing
- Ran track and cross country at Bowdoin College
- Initially was scared of running in public and would pretend that she was looking at flowers as cars passed her
- Got over her fear after watching a college friend running by
- Supplemented her training by working as the women’s long-distance coach at Boston University
- Ran the 1987 Boston Marathon while three months pregnant with her first child
- Married her college sweetheart after returning home from the Olympic Games Los Angeles 1984
- Was diagnosed with asthma in 1991
- Wrote a book entitled “Joan Samuelson’s Running for Women”
- Mother of two children, Abigail and Anders.
Hall Of Fame Bio #
Joan Benoit was the winner of the first Olympic women’s marathon at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 1984. Born in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, Benoit earned All-American honors at North Carolina State in 1977 and 1978. She then entered the 1979 Boston Marathon as a relative unknown, yet won the by race knocking eight minutes off the competition record. Benoit also captured the U.S. 10,000-meter championship in 1981, and won the Boston Marathon again in 1983, setting a new world record in the process. She captured the 3,000 at the Pan American Games the same year. Prior to the Los Angeles 1984 Games, Benoit suffered from a severe knee injury, forcing her to undergo surgery just 17 days before the U.S. Olympic Trials. She would go on to win the trials and repeat her success in Los Angeles, winning the first-ever women’s marathon at an Olympic Games. With a win at the 1985 Chicago Marathon, Benoit was awarded the James E. Sullivan for the nation’s best amateur athlete. She continued to compete in marathons and long-distance events, and also served as a cross-country coach, motivational speaker and sports commentator.
