The Marathon for Equality

Seventy-five thousand people poured into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on

August 5, 1984 to watch history take place. The event was the first ever women’s Olympic

marathon, and American Joan Benoit was ready to become part of history. Almost 26 miles and

285 yards later, she entered the Olympic stadium for her final lap in first place as “she was

embraced by the warm, loud roar of the crowd gathered to see the winner of the first Olympic

women’s marathon in history and her marathoner’s heart quickened just a bit.”1 Benoit earned

gold in the marathon, finishing in two hours, 24 minutes and 52 seconds, and “the Coliseum and

everyone in it were hers.”2 During Benoit’s second lap around the track, Grete Waitz of Norway

entered the stadium and took silver, followed by Rosa Mota of Portugal winning bronze. Swiss

runner Gabriella Andersen staggered to the finish in a zigzag pattern suffering from extreme

dehydration, but still managed to take fourth place. Women everywhere swelled with pride at the

sight of such progress for the women’s movement. Men were impressed with the athletic

prowess that these women had displayed and began to rethink their judgments about women’s

sports abilities. This race became cemented in history as something bigger than an athletic

competition. It symbolized the push towards gender equality, towards more opportunities for

women and towards the realization that women could do anything that men could. The

worldwide reaction to the first women’s marathon was pride, happiness, excitement and elation

because of what these women accomplished and the implications for what women could

accomplish in the future. This reaction made a statement about the bigger picture of the global

1
The Washington Post, 6 August 1984.
2
Ibid.

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ideas of gender at this time, and it made a few things incredibly clear: Times were changing for

women, gender disparity lessening, and women could not be stopped.

The Los Angeles Olympic Games of 1984 marked the first women’s marathon event in

Olympic history. Men had been competing in the marathon event since the establishment of the

modern Olympic Games in 1896. However, the sexism that was permeating the Olympics did not

stop there. In 1984, only 1700 out of 7800 athletes were women, 73 out of 221 Olympic events

were for women and it was much worse before this. During the women’s 800 meter at the 1928

Amsterdam Games, two women collapsed at the finish line, and Olympic officials banned the

event, claiming that it was too strenuous for women; it didn’t return until 1960. By the 1960s,

however, women still couldn’t run in major marathons, but women like Kathrine Switzer, who

ran illegally in the 1967 Boston Marathon, lobbied for their right to run. In 1981, with strong

support from Monique Berlioux, executive director of the IOC, Peter Ueberroth of the L.A.

Organizing Committee and John Holt, executive director of the International Amateur Athletics

Federation, the women’s marathon was added to the schedule for the L.A. Games.3 The timing

for the marathon was considered “exhilarating” by the Washington Post: “Women are storming

national politics this summer; long-delayed bills addressing pension disparities and lapsed child-

support payments are passing without opposition, Democrats and Republicans alike are furiously

courting the women’s vote, and just the sight of the new Democratic vice presidential nominee

(Geraldine Ferraro) is stirring crowds across the country.”4 The women’s movement was more

popular than ever, and the marathon was exactly the fire needed to add to its growing flame. The

3
The New York Times, 4 August 1984.
4
The Washington Post, 11 August 1984.

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reactions both before and after the marathon were extremely telling of the growing momentum of

progress for women.

Before the Olympics even started, people around the world were incredibly excited to

witness the first women’s marathon. They were excited for the Games in general, but when it

came to women’s events, the anticipation grew. With the marathon specifically, excitement

reached an all-time high. An article from the New York Times published the day before the

marathon titled “The Women’s Olympics: Sports of the Times,” praises the increase in female

participation in the Games, noting the addition of the marathon, as well as rhythmic gymnastics

and synchronized swimming, saying that “perhaps for the first time in Olympic history, there are

compelling female events every hour of every day.” This was an acknowledgement that women

were finally receiving some of the same treatment as men. The article highlights the anticipation

for the marathon especially, noting that all of the other women’s events were great to watch, “but

tomorrow morning, the Summer Games will belong to one event: the marathon, the female

marathon, the first female marathon.”5 This emphasized the magnitude of what was about to

occur and what it meant for women: another step in the right direction. The article goes on to call

the runners “seasoned competitors” and talk about how much the women’s marathon meant to

everyone around the world, saying that “this race is already a crown jewel of these Games

because it symbolizes the ultimate acceptance as female athletes as rugged, courageous,

independent competitors, just like men.”6 To everyone watching, especially women, the first

marathon was so much more than just an athletic competition. Kathrine Switzer, who served as a

commentator for the women’s marathon, noted that “the one thing I hope I manage to get across,

5
The New York Times, 4 August 1984.
6
Ibid.

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is that women’s sports is not a fluke, that you’re not watching a helluva race, you’re also

watching a social and cultural revolution. I want to make the point that your limitations are in

your mind.”7 Switzer was speaking for women everywhere who wanted to communicate that

sports were a vehicle for defying stereotypes that women were weak athletes and inferior in

general. The limitations that the world had set for women were intended to be greatly surpassed,

and the marathon was one of the best ways to start doing so. What better way to defy the

international perception of women than to compete in a grueling athletic event that was broadcast

all over the world?

The New York Times article also mentions that the Women’s Sports Foundation, which

served as an influential force for getting the women’s marathon into the event and also for Title

IX equality, organized a motif for the marathon called “Women Celebrating Women.” They

planned for thousands of women to wear identical t-shirts during the marathon and cheer for

runners from all nations, with the mission of uniting women under the purpose of supporting

each other and supporting the women’s movement. It is clear that the excitement for the

marathon before it even occurred was representative of the excitement for progress for women. It

was shaping up to be the most important event of the Los Angeles Games. The New York Times

article summed it up as “directly in the center of these Summer Games, at the symbolic heart of

1984, is a 26-mile-385-yard race for female athletes, running not only for themselves, not only

for their countries, not only for the audience, but also for each other. This is one race that has

been won before it began.”8 An interesting counterargument comes from the Morning Call

newspaper from Allentown, Pennsylvania, in an article titled “Marathon the Supreme Test of

7
Ibid.
8
Ibid.

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Body and Mind Will Have Special L.A. Features.” The article spans 2,000 words, but only

mentions the women’s marathon in one small paragraph and spends the rest of the time

discussing the men’s marathon.9 This demonstrates that even though the mass majority of the

world was in support of women’s progress, there was still a long way to go before women were

given the same attention as men in sports.

Due to the overwhelming feats by women competing in the Olympics, people were

starting to notice that the preconceived notions about women were not to be believed. An article

from The Observer in London titled “Are Women Closing the Gender Gap?” compares the now-

ancient ideals that modern Olympic Games founder Baron de Coubertin held to new ideas about

women that were being promoted at the time of the L.A. Games. Coubertin believed that the

Games were reserved for men, but the article notes that “there are growing signs that the myth of

their inevitable sporting inferiority may be about to be shattered for good” with the dawn of the

women’s marathon.10 The article continues by delving into scientific evidence that states that

scientists see no reason why women won’t narrow the gap between women and men in sports,

which was already narrowing at the time of the 1984 Games. In fact, it predicted that women

may be running as fast as men by the 2020 Olympic Games, but there was still a hurdle for

women to overcome: blind male prejudice. Although women were steadily making progress, in

1984 they were still barred from eight of the 27 Olympic sports; they were also still constrained

by bouts of male prejudice that made assumptions about their athletic abilities, so there was still

work to do. Despite this, the overall agreement was that given these new opportunities for

women, “time is catching up and so are women.”11

9
Morning Call, 9 August 1984.
10
The Observer, 12 August 1984.
11
Ibid.

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 When the marathon finally happened, the reactions were overwhelmingly positive, just as

they had been before the race. A reporter for The Washington Post wrote in an article that “there

were women who knew that for the rest of their lives they would never see another moment quite

like this.”12 The article described the reaction of three different women watching the marathon,

all of whom reacted with a lot of emotion and pride. It mentions that men who witnessed the

marathon in person as well as men who watched it on television were incredibly impressed.

Women were extremely content with the world’s reaction. When asked about it, Eva

Auchincloss, executive director of the Women’s Sports Foundation, said, “what amazes me – I

suppose it shouldn’t amaze me but it does – is how many people are zeroing in and noticing the

women as much as the men.”13 Women were finally starting to get the respect, attention and

admiration they deserved – especially in sports, an area in which they had long been

marginalized. The way that people were reacting to this gave women everywhere immense hope.

Joan Benoit, the winner of the marathon, summed up the positive outcome of the 1984 Games,

saying that “women athletes did remarkably well this year. Women will overcome many

obstacles, many conflicts, to do what they want to do. They’re finally being recognized.”14

People were almost unanimously convinced that women were entering a new era of progress.

It is no secret that sports, especially with the Olympics, have helped to revolutionize the

women’s movement, and the women’s marathon was no different. It is clear that the reaction to

the marathon exemplifying the millions of people impressed with the strength of women all

proved one thing: The women’s movement was making progress. It was not over, but the

marathon was definitely evidence of a changing world. At the 1984 Games, people (especially

12
The Washington Post, 11 August 1984.
13
Ibid.
14
The New York Times, 31 December 1984

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women) were ecstatic to see the women crossing the finish line in the Olympic stadium on that

hot August day. But they were more excited to see the women gaining momentum and getting

even closer to crossing the finish line that is equality.

Honor Code