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October 29, 2020
Smith, Benoit Samuelson earn Athlete of the Week honors
INDIANAPOLIS -- Former Air Force Academy NCAA All-America
Jaci Smith
(Colorado Springs, Colorado) won the Big City Invitational 10,000m and was a landslide winner of USATF Athlete of the Week in a fan poll, while
Joan Benoit Samuelson
was selected by fans as the winner of the 31st USATF Throwback Athlete of the Week award for setting an American record in the women’s marathon on October 20, 1985. In the absence of regular competition during the Covid-19 pandemic, we are taking a weekly look back at some of the great efforts by American track and field athletes through the years.
Almost eight months after placing 19th at the Olympic Trials marathon in Atlanta, Smith returned to the track to clip more than 27 seconds off her 10,000m PR and win the Big City Invitational at New York City’s Icahn Stadium in 32:10.31. That time qualified her for next year’s Olympic Trials - Track & Field and is the fastest legal time by an American woman this year. Smith was eighth in the 10,000m at the 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships for Air Force, and finished sixth in the 5,000m at the indoor championships in 2019. She set her half marathon PR of 70:42 at Houston in January before making her marathon debut at the Trials.
A history-making gold medal in the inaugural women’s marathon at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles set the stage for Benoit Samuelson to beat a stellar field and win the 1985 Chicago Marathon in 2:21:21, narrowly missing the world best of 2:21:06 set in April by Norway’s Ingrid Kristiansen. At Chicago, Benoit Samuelson and Kristiansen ran in tandem for the first 19 miles before the American started to pull away from Kristiansen and Portugal’s Rosa Mota. Benoit Samuelson continued to stretch her lead over the final five miles and won by 1:44 over Kristiansen, with defending champion Mota third in 2:32:29.
Truly a pioneer in women’s distance running, Benoit Samuelson’s AR lasted until 2003, when Deena Kastor ran 2:21:16 at London. She won the 1985 Sullivan Award as the best amateur athlete in the U.S. but suffered from a variety of injuries after that and was unable to return to elite world class levels until 1991, placing fourth at the Boston Marathon. Benoit Samuelson ran the 1996 Olympic Trials marathon, finishing 13th, and was ninth at the 2000 Trials at age 42. Her final Trials race was in 2008 at Boston, and she clocked 2:50:37 at the 2013 Boston race to win her age group.
Benoit Samuelson founded the Beach to Beacon road race in Maine in 1998, a 10K that has featured many top international competitors through the years. She has also served as a coach in her home state and has served on numerous physical fitness and wellness councils. Benoit Samuelson was elected to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2004 and to the Team USA Olympic Hall of Fame in 2008.
Other historical performances of note from the October 19-25 period in USATF history:
October 19 — Rosie Bonds American record in women’s 80m hurdles, 10.87 at Tokyo in 1964
October 20 — Madeline Manning American record in women’s 800m, 2:00.92 at Mexico City in 1968
October 20 — Dick Fosbury American record in men’s high jump, 2.24m/7-4.25 at Mexico City in 1968
October 21 — Earlene Brown American record in women’s shot put, 14.29m/46-10.75 at Los Angeles in 1956
October 22 — Olie Snediger American record in men’s javelin, 49.03m/160-10 at San Francisco in 1909
Other notable performances from the past week included:
Donn Cabral ran a lifetime best 29:21.35 to win the men’s 10,000m at the Big City Invitational.
Tyler Day led the NAZ Elite team to a win at the Michigan Pro Ekiden with his 28:46 opening 10K leg.
Lauren Paquette had the fastest women’s 6.1K leg at the Michigan Pro Ekiden, clocking 19:19 for the NAZ Elite.
Now in its 19th year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
2020 Winners: January 9, Miranda Melville; January 16, Paul Perry; January 23, Natosha Rogers; January 30, Tyler Day, February 6, Devin Dixon; February 13, Elle Purrier; February 20, Tori Franklin; February 27, Sandi Morris; March 4, Abdi Abdirahman; March 12 Marielle Hall; March 19, Tim Tollefson; April 2, Louise Ritter; April 9, Francie Larrieu Smith; April 16, Erin Gilreath; April 23, Suzy Powell; April 30, Joe Dial; May 7, Dawn Ellerbe; May 14, Ramona Pagel; May 21, Brian Oldfield; May 28, Jackie Joyner-Kersee; June 4, Jesse Owens; June 11, Mary Decker Slaney; June 18, Leroy Burrell; June 25, Sandra Farmer-Patrick; July 2, Jim Ryun; July 9, Evelyn Ashford; July 16, Wilma Rudolph & Shelby Houlihan; July 23, Pat Daniels & Ryan Crouser; July 30, Michael Norman & Mildred “Babe” Didriksen; August 6, Valarie Allman & Parry O’Brien; August 13, Sara Hall & Kevin Young; August 20, Justin Robinson & Jackie Joyner-Kersee; August 27, Donavan Brazier & Renaldo Nehemiah; September 3, Ryan Crouser & Mike Powell; September 10, Ryan Crouser & Wilma Rudolph; September 17, Rudy Winkler & Kate Schmidt; September 24, Ryan Crouser & Jay Silvester; October 1, Payton Chadwick & Carl Lewis; October 8, Sara Hall & Florence Griffith Joyner; October 15, Shadrack Kipchirchir & Johnny J. Kelley; October 22, Katie Thronson & Billy Mills; October 29, Jaci Smith & Joan Benoit Samuelson.
We welcome your nominations!
To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about his/her performance to
communications@usatf.org
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