Marathon great Grete Waitz dies at 57 from cancer
Grete Waitz, a Norwegian long-distance runner who won the New York City Marathon nine times, died on Tuesday of cancer.
A former Oslo schoolteacher, Waitz won her first New York City Marathon in 1978, setting a world best in 2 hours, 32 minutes, 30 seconds in her first attempt at running the distance. She went on to win eight more times, with her last victory coming in 1988.
She won the London Marathon twice, in 1983 and ‘86, the Stockholm Marathon in 1988 and earned five titles at the world cross-country championships from 1978-81 and 1983.
Waitz also won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1983 world championships in Helsinki, Finland. A year later, she took second behind Joan Benoit in the first women’s Olympic marathon.
She broke the women’s world record four different times, including at three consecutive NYC Marathons (1978–1980). Amazing athlete.