Joan Benoit Samuelson, winner of the first Olympic women’s marathon in 1984, will try to make the U.S. team this year.
Samuelson ended speculation about whether she would compete in the U.S. marathon trials Feb. 26 at Columbia, S.C.
“I haven’t submitted my application, but that’s the plan,” Samuelson said.
She gave several reasons for her decision to enter.
“I’m qualified, I’m 42, this is the year 2000 and my kids have supported me,” she said.
Samuelson will not be a favorite to make the three-woman team for the Sydney Games against a field of more than 200, but that isn’t deterring her.
“I’m still passionate about running,” she said. “I love the sport. I want to be a part of it. I hope to be competitive.”
The intense Samuelson won the gold medal at Los Angeles in 2 hours 24 minutes 52 seconds–still the Olympic record. She competed in the trials only 17 days after undergoing athroscopic knee surgery.
– Warren Richards, a former judo champion, was dropped from the Olympic torch run after Sydney Games organizers learned he is serving a 12-year jail sentence for drug trafficking.
Richards was one of the Australian Olympic Committee’s approved nominations to carry the torch as a reward for participating in the 1976 Games.
– Organizers of a track meet in Karslruhe, Germany, will allow two-time 200-meter world champion Merlene Ottey, who tested positive for the banned substance Nandrolene last July, to compete in a meet Saturday despite pressure from the IAAF and German promoters.
