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In March 1984, Benoit injured her knee severely during a 20-mile
training run, forcing her to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery just 17
days before the United States Olympic Women's Marathon Trials were
scheduled. However, she recovered from the surgery much more quickly
than expected, and showed up at the trials as the woman to beat. She
beat runner-up Julie Brown by 30 seconds, winning in 2:31:04. Three
months later, she competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles
and won the first Olympic Women's Marathon in 2:24:52, several hundred
meters ahead of Grete Waitz, Rosa Mota, and Ingrid Kristiansen, all
considered legends in their own rights.
Benoit enjoyed success at non-marathon distances as well, winning the
prestigious Falmouth Road Race (7.1 miles) a total of six times (1976,
1978, 1981–1983, and 1985), breaking the course record on four of those
occasions.
Although she won the 1985 Chicago marathon, defeating Kristiansen and
Mota in an American Record time of 2:21:21 (that would last as the AR
for 18 years until broken by Deena Kastor in 2003 in London), Benoit
was hampered in the years after her Olympic victory by injuries and
struggled to compete in major races. She received the 1985 James E.
Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. Wikipedia
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