在1984年之前，夏季奥运会女子田径的比赛没有超过1500米距离的项目。42.195公里的马拉松的是在洛杉矶奥运会上才被列为夏季奥运会的正式比赛项目，而这也一项目在奥运会的首次表演，就见证了一位美国的田径运动员的精彩表现。
Until 1984, no women''s running event longer than 1,500m had been included in the Olympics. The 42km195 marathon race was finally added to the Olympic program in Los Angeles and the landmark breakthrough was a dramatic and emotional event. On 18 April 1983, Joan Benoit won the Boston Marathon in a time of 2:22:43.
This time still stood as the world best when the inaugural women''s Olympic marathon was held on 5 August 1984. Benoit qualified for the Olympics by winning the U.S. Olympic trial only seventeen days after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on her right knee.
At the Los Angeles Games, Benoit was the co-favorite along with Norway''s Grete Waitz, who had won all seven marathons she had completed. Waitz had also beaten Benoit ten of the eleven times they had met at various distances. This time, however, Benoit took the lead after only fourteen minutes and pulled away at will, amazed that no one went with her. By the time Waitz began reeling her in after 30km, it was too late. Benoit won the race by 400m.
在1984年之前，夏季奥运会女子田径的比赛没有超过1500米距离的项目。42.195公里的马拉松的是在洛杉矶奥运会上才被列为夏季奥运会的正式比赛项目，而这也一项目在奥运会的首次表演，就见证了一位美国的田径运动员的精彩表现。1983年4月18日，琼贝萝蒂以2小时22分43秒的成绩赢得了波斯顿马拉松比赛的冠军，这个成绩也是1984年洛杉矶奥运会之前的**好成绩。在她进行完右腿膝盖手术后的17天，贝萝蒂顺利通过美国田径队的选拔赛获得奥运会的参赛资格。在洛杉矶，贝萝蒂与挪威的瓦伊茨成为两位冠军热门，瓦伊茨在她参加的全部七项马拉松比赛中全部获胜，并且在双方的11次交手中取得了10次胜利。但是这一次，本土作战的贝萝蒂在14分钟就取得*地位，并将对手抛在身后，等到过了30公里后，瓦伊茨开始加速的时候，已经晚了，贝萝蒂的*优势太多了，*终她*400米获得冠军。
