Grete Waitz, Norwegian great who won New York City Marathon 9 times, dies at 57
Grete Waitz of Norway competes Oct. 28, 1984, in the New York City Marathon, an event she won a record nine times.
Grete Waitz, the Norwegian runner who won nine New York City Marathons and the silver medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, died Tuesday at an Oslo hospital after a six-year battle with cancer. She was 57.
A former schoolteacher, Waitz won her first NYC Marathon in 1978, setting a then-world best of 2 hours, 32 minutes, 30 seconds in her first attempt at running the 26.2-mile distance. Her last NYC Marathon victory was in 1988.
Mary Wittenberg, New York Road Runners president and chief executive officer, said Waitz's legacy will live on through Grete's Great Gallop and other running programs in the city.
"We are sad to lose a dear friend and our most decorated champion," said Wittenberg, the NYC Marathon race director.
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