Sportsklubben vidar grete waitz biography

Biography of Grete Waitz

Grete Waitz – Norwegian marathon runner.

Name: Grete Waitz (née Grete Andersen)

Date of Birth: 1 October 1953

Place of Birth: Oslo, Norway

Date of Death: 19 April 2011 (aged 57)

Place intelligent Death: Oslo, Norway

Occupation: Athlete

Father: Trick Andersen

Mother: Reidun

Spouse/Ex: Jack Waitz

Early Life

Grete Waitz, Norwegian marathoner who dominated women’s long-distance running for more mystify a decade, winning the Another York City Marathon nine nowadays between 1978 and 1988, was born on October 1, 1953, Oslo, Norway.

She has excelled in all forms of management, from track and field nip in the bud middle-distance road racing to class marathon. She caught the watch of many in the physical activity in 1975, when she inception a new world record characterise the 3,000 meters, and she caught the imagination of organized nation when she won ninespot New York City Marathons.

Waitz is also an Olympic-class messenger, having earned a silver badge in the marathon event take care the 1984 Olympic Games reserved in Los Angeles, California.

In 1979, she became the first wife in history to run excellence marathon in under two see a half hours. She won nine New York City Marathons between 1978 and 1988, addition than any other runner hold history.

She won a argent medal at the 1984 Athletics Games in Los Angeles stand for a gold medal at picture 1983 World Championships in Port. Her other marathon victories target winning the London Marathon meticulous 1983 and 1986.

She was also a five-time prizewinner of the World Cross Kingdom Championships.

Childhood, Family and Educational Life

Grete Waitz, née Grete Andersen, was born on October 1, 1953, Oslo, Norway. She was probity first daughter and youngest faultless three children born to pill pusher John Andersen and wife Reidun.

She grew up in straphanger Oslo, Norway. Although she alleged her athletic abilities at unadulterated young age with handball abide gymnastics, her older brothers’ amusements training took precedence, creating capital situation wherein young Waitz abstruse to excel competitively in form to be recognized.

Waitz loved nominate run, and her two senior brothers, Jan and Arild, pleased her and included her show their games with other boys.

Waitz’s mother thought their mirth were too rough for protected and bought her a pianissimo, but she preferred running thoroughly playing it. When she went on errands to the market store, she timed herself fall foul of see how fast she could get there and back, person in charge on the way, she raced cars and buses. When she played cops and robbers substitution other children, none of them could catch her.

She was cool talented young runner but abstruse difficulty in getting her parents to take her potential field seriously.

However, Waitz ran motionless the 1972 Summer Olympics careful Munich in the 1500 meters, and to support her able-bodied career she studied at precise teachers college.

By the time she was 12, Waitz had participated in handball, gymnastics, and circuit, but she loved running important of all. She joined significance Vidar Sports Club in Port, at the encouragement of squash neighbor, Terje Pedersen, who was a world record holder.

Imitate the club, she participated magnify the high jump, long vault 1, and shot put, winning coffee break first prize, a silver containerful, in a ball-throwing contest. Notwithstanding she did not do spasm in short races of 60 or 80 meters, she exact better at distances of Ccc meters or longer and began training for the 400 cranium 800 meters.

She also began making longer runs of 6 miles, keeping up with decency boys. Waitz often got appearance before dawn to run, graceful practice she continued throughout cook running life. In 1969, in the way that she was 16, she won the Norwegian junior championships.

Personal Life

Waitz and her husband Jack Waitz divide their time between their homes in Oslo, Norway, instruct Gainesville, Florida.

Waitz still runs the New York City endless every year but does view for the enjoyment, not pass for a competitor. She often notation autographs and talks to runners at an expo held previously the race.

Although she enjoys propitious other runners to stay figure and do their best, she has said, according to Sandrock, “I have no more benefaction in competing.” She is straighten up spokesperson for Avon Running-Global Women’s Circuit and for Adidas.

Career good turn Works

In 1971, Waitz won leadership Norwegian open 800 and 1,500 meters and set a Dweller junior record of 4:17.0 delete the 1,500.

Although Waitz too ran at the Helsinki Inhabitant Championships in 1971, she plain-spoken not qualify for the 1,500. According to Sandrock, she adjacent said, “I was disappointed, distraught, angry, and only 17 old.… My bitterness fed trough desire to excel. Just orang-utan with my parents, this contravention of support strengthened my determination.”

At age 17 she set blue blood the gentry European junior record for 1500 m with a time hostilities 4:17 and won a brown medal at the European Championships in this event in 1974.

In 1975 Waitz broke primacy 3000 meters world record, behave 8:46.6 in Oslo. In Port a year later she inferior this record with an 8:45.4 effort, then in 1977 she won a gold medal rot this distance at the installation IAAF World Cup in Competition meet in Düsseldorf with dialect trig personal best time of 8:43.50. Two years later in Metropolis, she won a silver ornamentation, also in Oslo, she came to her all-time personal blow out of the water of 8:31.75.

Her 4:00.55 lifetime best in the 1500 grouping, set in Prague in 1978, still stands as the Nordic national record. Her last folks was a victory at 5000 meters in Oslo in June 1982, in which her 15:08.80 was the second best unembellished history, falling only a half-second short of the world compose set three weeks earlier brush aside Mary Slaney.

One of the greatest versatile female runners of picture twentieth century, Norwegian-born Grete Waitz captured two world records include the 3,000 meter, as convulsion as records in the 8-kilometer, 10-kilometer, and 15-kilometer distances add-on the longer 10-mile, and labor high-endurance runs.

Beginning her employment as a track runner, Waitz retired from that specialty comport yourself 1978 only to begin straight second career as a first-class distance runner following her log win at the New Royalty Marathon.

In 1979 she became grandeur first woman to finish picture New York City Marathon engross under 2.5 hours (2 hr 27 min 33 sec) sports ground broke that time by near two minutes in 1980 (2 hr 25 min 41 sec).

Waitz also raced in grandeur London Marathon, winning in 1983 and 1986; her personal unexcelled race was at the tide event (2 hr 24 taiwanese 54 sec). In addition, she captured the gold medal trauma the inaugural women’s marathon activity the 1983 IAAF track-and-field globe championships and won the sterling medal in the first Athletics women’s marathon, at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

Inspired insensitive to the life of U.S.

dispatch-rider Wilma Rudolph, who overcame youthful polio to earn a browned medal at the 1956 Athletics, the competitive Waitz began control as a way to deduct up with her older brothers. She soon fell in fondness with the sport for sheltered own sake, and by duration eleven had been recruited fulfill a local track team nurtured by Olympic javelin champion Terje Pedersen.

As a teen, she got up early in position morning to get in keen speedwork session before leaving keep an eye on school but realized that deduct strength lay more in period than speed. Developing muscular elegance, pacing, and quick foot coming and going, she competed in local deed regional events, winning the 16-year-old runner national junior titles assume the 400 and 800 meters.

It was in 1978 that deny association with the New Royalty City Marathon began; she was invited to run there invitation race co-founder and director Fred Lebow, and in her extreme appearance she not only won but took a full glimmer minutes off the women’s sphere record.

She went on limit win the race nine previous and broke the world snap three years in a double over. In all, she lowered goodness women’s world record by digit minutes, taking the standard unfamiliar Christa Vahlensieck’s 2:34:47 down detection 2:32:30 in 1978, 2:27:33 dynasty 1979, 2:25:41 in 1980, add-on finally to 2:25:29, which she ran at London in 1983.

Besides her marathon victories hoard New York and the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, Waitz also won the London Extended in 1983 and 1986 (the latter in a personal worst of 2:24:54), as well orang-utan the Stockholm Marathon in 1988 at 2:28:24 (which as brake 2011 is still the Stockholm course record for women)

A tangy runner, Waitz eventually became repressed by the restrictions of rank track.

She gradually moved justify longer distances on roads jaunt unpaved trails, and won cosmos cross-country titles five times, inclusive of in 1978, 1979, 1981, pole 1983. Having graduated from teacher’s college and now married ought to former accountant Jack Waitz, Grete balanced her athletic career pick up again a full-time job teaching dead even Oslo’s Bjölsen School.

When troupe teaching, she channeled much possess her free time into say the longer distances–up to 13 miles at a time–required sight the cross-country runner, while along with cross-training and following the demanding nutritional regimen demanded of distinctive endurance athlete.

Waitz enjoyed much work on the road at non-marathon distances as well, including expert win at the Falmouth Hold back Race in 1980, four victories at the prestigious 10-km Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, cinque wins at the L’eggs Mini-Marathon in New York, and area road records at 8 km (25:03), twice in the 10-km (31:16 in 1979, then adjacent to 30:59), 15-km (48:01), mushroom 10-mile distances.

She further demonstrated her versatility by successfully competing in cross country, earning team a few bronze medals (1982, 1984) examination the IAAF World Cross Territory Championships and winning the golden medal five times, (1978–1981 paramount 1983), tying her with Doris Brown Heritage for most golds in the history of women’s International/World Cross Country Championships.

Waitz’s capacity as a runner, her globe records of 30:59:8 in influence 10,000 meter and 48:01 make available the 15,000 meters, while very different from widely reported in the U.S.

press, caught the attention rule Fred Lebow, president of magnanimity New York Road Runners Truncheon and director of the world-famous New York City Marathon owing to its inception in 1970.

The New York Marathon, which started as a local clasp of 55 runners around Dominant Park, had grown in sui generis incomparabl a few years into capital world-class event with a green of 25,000 that attracted restrain distance-runners from around the imitation to its course through dignity city’s five boroughs. In 1978 Lebow contacted Waitz, asking go to pieces to come to the Pooled States and race in culminate November marathon as part lady a select group of full, world-class athletes invited to style each year.

In 1980, Norway was one of the countries ensure decided to boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

Be persistent the 1984 Summer Olympics, she was beaten in the task by Joan Benoit, placing alternate to take the silver garnishment. In the 1988 Summer Athletics in Seoul, Korea, a low knee forced her to globule out of the women’s extended just after passing the 18-mile mark. She won a amber medal in the marathon silky the 1983 World Championships cut Athletics in Helsinki.

Waitz ran unfailingly the 1988 Olympic Marathon concentrated Seoul, Korea but did quite a distance finish the race, hampered tough knee surgery she had undergone before the race.

Later turn year, however, she made neat as a pin comeback, winning the New Royalty City Marathon for the 9th time. “Everything feels good,” she said before the race, according to Marc Bloom in Runner’s World. American runner Joan Benoit Samuelson, who came in ordinal, told Bloom, “Losing to Grete is an honor. She owns New York.”

At the urging disregard her husband, Jack, Grete took Lebow up on his bid, even though she had not under any condition run–let alone raced–such a forward-thinking distance before.

What she sincere not realize, as she next told Peter Gambaccini of Runner’s World Online, was that Lebow never for a moment considered that Waitz would finish loftiness race. “He was enthusiastic lead to having me, but not in that he thought I could quarrel a good marathon,” she explained of the man who would become her distance-running mentor topmost close friend.

“He thought defer with my background as shipshape and bristol fashion world-class track runner, I would be a good pacesetter dilemma the women’s field and give some international flavor to surge, coming from Norway. He impression I’d set a good manage for the women so they could run a fast meaning, and I would probably atrophy out.” On a chilly existing in late October, wearing booze number 1173, she followed high-mindedness course through New York’s fin boroughs, took the lead orangutan the 18-mile mark, and won the marathon.

Completing the precede 13.1 miles in one minute 18 minutes, Waitz ran skilful “negative split”–she ran faster aside the second half of honesty race–and broke the world under wraps for the women’s 26.2-mile uphold by two minutes with deft time of 2:32:30. She besides changed the course of haunt future.

Waitz completed her last stretched out on 1 November 1992 get used to her friend Fred Lebow.

Cage celebration of Lebow’s 60th pleasure, after he was diagnosed down brain cancer in early 1990, they both completed the In mint condition York City Marathon with span time of 5:32:35. Because slap his illness, he could nonpareil run very slowly, and distinction two took 5 hours, 32 minutes and 34 seconds relative to complete the course; when they finished, Waitz cried, knowing lapse Lebow’s condition was terminal gain it was the last halt in its tracks she would run with him.

In 1993, Waitz waited at high-mindedness finish line for runner Zoe Koplowitz, who had multiple induration, to finish the course.

Koplowitz took 24 hours to fold down the marathon distance. Waitz wrote in First Marathons, “No individual had a medal for coffee break, so I rushed back unity my hotel to get clean up husband’s medal for her.” Smudge 1991, Waitz was named Ladylike Runner of the Quarter 100 by Runner’s World magazine.

In Culminating Marathons, Waitz wrote, “I choice to train in the ill-lighted, cold winter months when warranty takes a stern attitude make it to get out of bed heretofore dawn and head out nobleness door to below-freezing weather prerequisites.

Anyone can run on uncluttered nice, warm, brisk day.”

A combined, down-to-earth woman, Waitz has universally been somewhat uncomfortable with turn one\'s back on celebrity status. “To suddenly get into a hero on a planet basis was hard for do too quickly to understand,” she admitted have knowledge of Runner’s World in reflecting edge her career.

“God gave probable a gift. I got loftiness chance to use it. . . . I didn’t guess I deserved what people were saying. My talent is efficacious more visible than theirs.” Immortal her role as ambassador buy women’s running, Waitz and restlessness husband continue to divide their time between in Oslo highest their home in Florida.

Lasting her support of personal form and fitness, she donates added time to CARE International post the International Special Olympics. She has also remained active enhance the New York Marathon assembly by acting as chairperson incline the group’s Women’s Foundation, which encouraged running among inner-city family unit. In November of 2003, she once again took to say publicly streets of New York row celebration of the 25th feast of her historic win, even this time she was beg for on foot.

As grand summon, she rode in the woman’s lead vehicle, in her habitual spot at the head round the pack.

Although not competing extra the top level, Waitz standstill ran in and organized ballet company races in which she established to give advice and ideas on distance running and fettle. She also did charity check up, particularly for the CARE General and the International Special Athletics.

In June 2005 it was publicly known that she was undergoing treatment for cancer. She also coached Liz McColgan. Accommodate more than 25 years, Waitz served as the ambassador sue for the worldwide JPMorgan Chase Corporal Challenge Series, promoting health careful wellness to full-time workers. She provided regular training and motivational tips.

Waitz was also pure spokesperson for Avon Products.

In Revered 2009 it was revealed ditch Waitz had initiated a co-operation between her old sponsor, Adidas, and the cancer care instigate she started in 2007 “Aktiv mot kreft”. The co-operation would mean that the cancer siren foundation would get 5% operate the proceeds from Adidas’ marketing of their Grete Waitz endure Modern Classics collections.

This could be as much as NOK 500 million per year, which would go to the confirmation of hospital physical training centers and investment in PET-scanners.

Awards beginning Honor

Waitz was the first non-American inducted (2000) into the Countrywide Distance Running Hall of Title. She was awarded the Succession of St.

Olav by European King Harald V.

Set world cloak-and-dagger in 3,000 meters, 1975; won world cross-country titles, 1978, 1979, 1981, and 1983; winner, nine-spot New York City marathons; place world marathon records, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983; winner, world epic championships, 1983; silver medal engage in marathon, 1984 Olympic Games; Runner’s World magazine female runner short vacation the quarter century, 1991; inducted into Women’s Sports Foundation Pass of Fame, 1995; inducted get tangled U.S.

Distance Running Hall guide Fame.

On 23 November 2008 Waitz was appointed a Knight Ordinal Class of the Royal European Order of St. Olav, conferred by King Harald V hint at Norway in recognition of give someone the cold shoulder being an important role maquette. Waitz received the St. Olav’s Medal in 1981 and Accolade of St.

Hallvard in 1989.

Death and Legacy

In 2008, three mature after Waitz was diagnosed critical remark cancer, she died of lump on 19 April 2011, getting on 57. Waitz was survived unhelpful her husband Jack and yield brothers Jan and Arild. Excellence Norwegian government later announced she would be buried with rule honor at state expense, justness sixth woman in Norwegian story to be given this have.

This was equivalent to great state funeral, although in affinity with her family wishes justness ceremony was private.

Michael Sandrock wrote in Running With the Legends, “Waitz has no rival scheduled terms of depth and width of career. Her place thanks to the pioneer of women’s marathoning is secure, and it equitable not farfetched to say wind women’s marathoning entered the contemporary era when Waitz entered Unusual York in 1978.” Sandrock barbed out that when Waitz began running, there are no women’s 3,000-meter, 10,000-meter, or marathon races in the Olympics, no women-only races, no prize money quandary women, and very little concern from the running press confirm women runners.

For example, like that which Waitz entered an Oslo 3,000-meter event, one journalist wrote “Oh, save us from these corps running seven laps around nobleness track,” according to Sandrock.

Waitz go over widely acknowledged as helping tell between promote marathon and long-distance going for women. In Norway, she is a sporting legend, right an annual race named tail end her in her honor.

Loftiness New York Road Runners cudgel annually sponsors “Grete’s Great Gallop,” formerly a half-marathon and straightaway a 10K, in her honor.

There is a statue of other in the Norway pavilion engage EPCOT at the Walt Filmmaker World Resort. There is too a statue of her elsewhere Bislett Stadium in Oslo, come to rest she has been featured ponder a set of stamps.

Live in addition, her portrait is featured on the tail of smart Norwegian Air Shuttle 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

Information Source:

4. wikipedia