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| rojo co-founder |
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I found an interesting article by Phil Hersh on the LA Times website where he ranks the top 10 female marathoners in history. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2008/10/ranking-womens.html I highly encourage you to read his article and his reasoning. His top 10 are: 1. Catherine Ndereba 2. Grete Waitz 3. Paula Radcliffe 4. Joan Benoit Samuelson 5. Rosa Mota 6. Lidia Simon 7. Katrin Dorre 8. Ingrid Kristiansen 9. Valentina Yegorova 10. Naoko Takahashi What does everyone else think? I'd never really thought of who is the greatest but his article raises some interesting questions. The top 3 women seem to have flaws to their resumes as Joanie is the only won with the world record and Olympic gold medal. While admitting it's basically an impossible task, particularly when you are comparing people from different eras, I think coming up with a top 10 for the women's marathon is seriously the perfect exercise. On some level, I would say I have no problem arguing that Radcliffe is the greatest ever despite her Olympic failures as Ndereba has never won Olympic gold either. I mean her absolute performances are leaps above everyone else's. But maybe I could be convinced othterwise. It's too late (1:30 am) for me to really analyze this but I thought I'd get the discussion going. Full article: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2008/10/ranking-womens.html |
| Brett in Tokyo |
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Naoko Takahashi also had the world record and an Olympic gold medal. |
| txRUNNERgirl |
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I think top 4 should be: 1) Joan Benoit Samuelson 2) Paula Radcliffe 3) Catherine Ndereba 4) Grete Waitz Is this only post-1984 Olympics? |
| PeteRose |
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#1 right now (historically speaking) is Joan Benoit hands down. Her times from nearly 30 years ago on tougher courses still rival the world's top times. (obviously Paula's WR is a good deal below those, but still) |
| Judy |
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You blkes are crazy.Radcliffe is far and away the best ever female marathon runner.Look at how far ahead her WR is. |
| running man |
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i'd say 1) Catherine Ndereba 2) Paula Radcliffe 3) Joan Benoit 4) Grete Waitz |
| txRUNNERgirl |
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Sure, but records fall over time. I think JBS is the the greatest in history given her entire career. But then again Paula is still competing, so it's difficult to compare athletes from different eras. |
| No to 2012 |
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Really? Benoit’s PB is 2.21.21. To my mind there’s no question as to who is the greatest female marathon runner of all time. The lady that still owns four of the five fastest times ever run. Her best three marathon times average 2.16.48. Which is about two minutes faster that the next lady, Ndereba’s best time of 2.18.47. Apart from the two Olympic races where she was clearly either injured or ill and had it not been an Olympic race, she’d never contemplated running - she’s uniquely unbeaten in every race she’s entered fully fit, including the World Championships. |
| Does Not Have |
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Margaret Okayo, who has the course records in both Boston and New York City, should be on the list somewhere |
| Snatch |
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No contest Radcliffe. The others can line up and get the Emotional Votes. |
| Johnny Rotten |
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Joan Benoit, though, ran her races and times without the benefit of many forebears--she was essentially out there all by her lonesome lighting the place up. For that alone I put her at #2 and Radcliffe at #2. |
| down east |
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johnny wins. jbs ran faster or beat anyone she needed to to prove her dominance. and she has a gold medal from the olympics but you know that and choose to overlook it. |
| trollism |
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JBS seems to be getting a few extra points based on which country she represented. |
| fgfg |
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Oprah and who f***en cares |
| obamacon |
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Ndereba is the greatest competitor - fearless. I'd put her #1. Not sure by Ingrid Kristiansen is down so low...I'd bump her up a bit. |
| run for the sun |
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Unless you have concluded that she was a drug cheat, Uta Pippig should be top five. 3 Boston victories, 3 Berlin and one in NY. |
| Mr. Ray |
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I ran against Greta Waitz in a 5K in 1983, and she kicked my butt pretty handily, for what that's worth. I haven't raced any of the others. Didn't Paula have some goofy escort/pacemaker when she was setting her world records? |
| Fatuma |
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YOU FORGOT about Fatuma Roba who was the first African to win the Olympic Marathon in 1996 along with 3 consecutive Boston Marathon Wins. |
| Dusty Bones |
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There are several tiebreakers between Radcliffe and Ndereba that go in Paula's favor. Paula has three times faster than Ndereba's best, the fastest of which is 3:22 better. In very close finishes, races that were not routs, Paula beat Susan Chepkemei in one NYC Marathon and Gete Wami in another, while Ndereba lost to Okayo in Boston. And in the closest thing that qualifies as a match race between the two, when both were fit, Radcliffe beat Ndereba at the 2005 Woirld Championships. |
| gorney |
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1) Waitz 2) Radcliffe 3) Benoit-Samuelson 4) Ndereba solely by looks: 1) Allison Roe |
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