LONDON, UK — Joan Benoit Samuelson is showing the world she's still got it after winning her age group in the London Marathon on Sunday.
Benoit Samuelson, 65, finished the 26.2-mile race in 3:20:20.
The Olympic gold medalist had company as her daughter Abby ran the race and finished in just under three hours.
“She may have beaten me with my replacement knee, but everybody said I wouldn’t do it! I will never say never,” Benoit Samuelson said, according to race organizers.
Benoit Samuelson has a dream of running with her granddaughter.
“I am a grandmother now to Charlotte, and it’s my goal to run 5K with her,” she said.
The Mainer hopes to complete the Abbott World Marathon Majors series of races made up of marathons in New York City, Chicago, Boston, London, Berlin, and Tokyo. The gold medalist only has Tokyo left, which she's expected to run in March.
Benoit Samuelson's list of accomplishments is legendary. She won the first Olympic women's marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the Boston Marathon in 1979 and 1983, and the Chicago Marathon in 1985. She raced the 1987 Boston Marathon while three months pregnant with Abby.
Her fastest time — 2:21:21 — is still among the best. She ranks sixth in U.S. women’s history.
Joan Benoit Samuelson is also a master gardener. She talked with meteorologist Todd Gutner about her love of gardening on Gardening with Gutner.
