one 4 the ladies - video of 1984 womens marathon US Olympic trials

Your question is why wasn't there going to be a marathon for women in the 1980 Olympics? The attached link provides the answer. It also demonstrates that there is no merit to Ms. Petronella's claim that she was the favorite to win the 1980 Olympic Marathon. I appreciate that 99.9% of people on Letsrun knew this.

http://www.marathonguide.com/history/olympicmarathons/chapter25.cfm

AMEN

I emailed her your questions to

athlette@fastq.com

Ms. Petronella:

1) What was your P.R. in the marathon?

2) Where and when did you run your marathon P.R.?

3) What were your second and third best times in the marathon? Where and when did you run these races?

4) Did you ever compete in a National Track Championship? If yes, where and when?

5) What are your track P.R.\'s for the 1500, 5000 and 10,000? Where and when did you run these times?

6) What proof is there that you were Joan Benoit\'s coach? If asked about your claim, do you know what Joan would say? Do you know what Bob Sevene would say?

7) What is the factual foundation for your claim that you were a world-class runner?

8) What is the factual foundation for the claim that you were a favorite to win the 1980 Olympic Marathon?

9) How could your dream to run the Olympic marathon for the U.S.A. in 1980 be crushed by the boycott given the fact that the first time women were permitted to run the marathon in the Olympics was 1984?

10) Given your claim to fame is that you were once a world-class runner, how is it that none of my track or road running friends from the 1970\'s or 80\'s have ever heard of you?

11) Keeping in mind that some of us still have our Track and Field News and Runners\' World magazines from the 1970\'s and 1980\'s (I knew there had to be a good reason not to throw them out), would you please point to all of the stories or reported races results where you are mentioned?

12) Putting aside the problem mentioned above at number (9), given the fact that (as far as I can tell) your best marathon time was 2:57, how could you possibly describe yourself as a world-class runner, since with that time you would have not have even come close to qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1984 (qualifying time was 2:51)?

13) If your P.R. was 2:57, given the fact that the world record for the marathon in 1980 was 2:25 and the American Record was 2:29, how can you claim to have been a world-class runner or an Olympic favorite in 1980 (even if there was no Olympic marathon for women in 1980? Do you seriously think it is reasonable to describe somone who has a P.R. 32 minutes slower than the W.R. as world-class?

14) Did you attend university. If yes, did you run track or cross-country for your school. If yes, when?

15) Would you please provide us with the name of your coach (or coaches) from the 1970s and 80s? Would you please provide us with the names of anyone known in the sport (who is still alive) who will back up your claim that you were a world-class runner?

16) Would you please provide us with a list of all the marathons you won (with the year of your victory)?

I look forward to your reply.

Thank you.[/quote]

In 1978 she supposedly ran 18th at Boston with a 2:57.10

1978 women's results

1. Gayle Barron, Atlanta, TC, Atlanta, GA, 2:44:52 2. Penny DeMoss, West Valley TC, Los Altos, California, 2:45:36 3. Jane Killion,New York Athletic Association, New York, New York2:47:23 4. Kim Merritt, Unattached, Racine, Wisconsin, 2:47:52 5. Laurie Pedrinan, NYAA, NY, NY 2:48:42 6. Kiyoko Obata, Japan 2:52:34 7. Ellie DeMendonca, Cambridge Sports Union, Cambridge, MA 2:52:49 8. Linda Susan Donkelaar, Arizona AA, Tempe, Arizona, 2:52:58 9. Nancy Linday, unatt. NY, NY, 2:53:07 10. Gayle Olinek, unatt. Ft. Lauderdale, Fla, 2:53:20 11. Deborah Butterfield,unatt, Bermuda, 2:53:51 12. Carolyn Bravakis, Hartford TC, Windsor Locks, CT, 2:54:13 13. Gabrielle Anderson, Sun Valley, Idaho, 2:54:21 14. Sue Petersen, San Fernando TC, Laguna Beach, CA, 2:55:12 15. Gillian File, Owairaka Harriers, New Zealand 2:56:29 16. Judy Lutter, St. Paul, Minn, 2:56:34 17. Ellie McEvily, Larchmont, NY, 2:56:43

18. Lynn Petronella, Boulder, Colorado, 2:57:10

19. Nina Kuscsik, Huntington, NY, 2:57:22 20. Kathrine Smith, Baltimore, MD, 2:57:45 21. Doone Riley, Tulsa, OK, 2:57:50 22. Nancy Dragoo, Waterford, NY, 2:57:58

So one of her claims is a little bit true----- she did beat a former winner but it was 40 year old Nina Kuscsik winner from'72 not the '77 winner(Miki Gorman).

Good luck with getting an answer from Ms P. Lets hope she sends you a copy of her novel-you could do a book report for us.

I got 2 emails from her in response to the email of questions posted on this thread that I sent her. Make of it what you will

First one

Whoever you are, you really are an asshole

I knew everyone in running and travelled the country will Bill Rodgers and Kenny Moore,

Who the hell are you?

Second one

Your questions are immature and knowledge of me and my life and accomplishments

lacking, your nastiness is unnecessary as I have nothing but good that I have done and accomplished for male and female runners, where were you 25 years ago

What did you do? who the hell are you? Were you with me when I ran

Boston on 8 months of training in 2:57 and beat Nina the then NY winner?

Were you with me when I went up against Fred Lebow in defense of Joan against Grete?

and for all American Athletes when he paid the foreign athletes under the table to beat the Americans? Were you with me when I paid to shot the Woman's trials in Olympia

(see YOUTUBE The Lynn Petronella Story_

Did you know my mission is greater than running> And about giving birth?

To oneself, in running in life in giving birth to a child?

Guess not,

So please keep your cryptic comments to yourself, the truth as they say

sets people free.

This IS TRUE, it is MY LIFE, MY STORY and I am proud of what was done

by me to help Joan win in l984

I am glad you have so much time on your hands to read books that did not cover the events I was in...congratulations, Best to you in all you do...

How much money and media coverage did you get for runners? Male and female???????

READ KNOW WHERE TO RUN then maybe you will know the lengths I went thru

to make a dream I had for l980 come true thru someone else, an American

that this great Democracy the USA and THE USOC denied me and many other

female athletes at that time

No one knows what I did, and now they will, read the book!

Dear Vancouver

You obviously did not read my book

All your questions are addressed there,

Many people did know me and write about things I won including Amby Burfoot

Yale New Haven 20 l979

Joan Benoit and her family know me well as do many other runners

Your immature questions about this issue are full of venom and

untruths,

I did not need to run in College but ran during college, I graduated from CU in Boulder

and ran with Decker and Shorter, coach Rick Castro CU, Dr. Marvin Clein of the USOC

PR 5000 16.50

PR 10K 35:54

PR 20K 1:12 New Haven 20 PR MARathon 2:57 predicted by coach

to run 2:30 on course, instead had to run 300 l0 K races nationwide for PEPSI

making opportunities for men and WOMEN and I guess people like you so

you could critcise me 25 years later, thanks.

It is not my fault that I was caught in the middle of the womans running boom

that discriminated against women at those distances so I did something about

it by starting ATHLETTES and coaching and persuading Joan to

compete against Grete since I had been prevented in l980 as by that time to go back to Colorado and train was an impossibility for me when I had been relocated to Purchase for PEPSI

, Joan did not believe Grete was beatable I DID and

I convinced her to continue running ITS IN A LETTER FROM HER TO ME IN MY BOOK

and then she was able

to realize SHE COULD beat Grete, I have the letters from Joan to prove it.

Was I her only coach, no, but I was VERY INSTRUMENTAL in her

continuing on when no one gave a dam about her I was even with her family at the podium

when she won in LA, ask Mrs. Benoit or ask her brother OR HOW ABOUT READING MY BOOK SMART ASS?????, especially

Fred Lebow and the NYRR who had their money on Grete...

I don't know who you are but I know who I am and what I did

and my story is true, and real....

but it is to my credit that I stood up to the Olympic movement

made money and opportunities for women and MEN runners

in New York, Boston and all over the country and got international

media attention thru my largest running program in the world

No I did not attend the Track and Field events

since they discriminated against women in my field

I held my own 10K championship in PURCHASE NY, where were you?

I am running history, I made running history and my life is not about running

it is about something greater GIVING BIRTH, and my life is dedicated to that end

Good luck to you and your uncovering, there are many newspaper articles on me nationwide at that time, no internet, or gossip, you runners don't know the lengths I went thru to get

running up and into the main stream and make opportunities for all, your comments

or rude, insulting and without merit, please keep them to yourself.

I am the truth, and the truth shall set you free....www.athlettes.com

Lynn Petronella

FOUNDER ATHLETTES...dedicated to the greatest athlet(T)e on earth...a woman (R)!

Thanks JoanBenoitFan for posting this.

As predicted, she did not directly answer any of the questions. She provided no proof to support her claim that she was a world-class runner.

2:57 was NOT a world-class time in 1978. It was not even a national-class time.

What have we learned from Ms. Petronella's angry and empty e-mail?

1) She was never the favorite to win an Olympic gold medal (contrary to her position)

2) She was never a world-class runner (contrary to her position)

Why anyone would send her a penny for her book or other garbage is beyond me.

fpmmv wrote:

you have anything to say about the fact that your brain is SMALLER than mine?

Smaller implies greater surface area for glial cells and neurons.

Your brain might be larger, but I'm sure that's just the ventricular spaces. And your brain being larger is definitely no surprise. It makes so much sense why your ego is also that inflated.

I have three small (additional) points in response to Ms. Petronella's e-mail.

1) Given the fact that there is now overwhelming evidence to support the conclusion that she has vastly overstated her athletic history, an adverse inference should be drawn against Ms. Petronella for refusing to provide any verifiable information to support her claims.

2) Even at this point she can't keep her story straight. She attempts to bolster her position in the sport by claiming that in the 1978 Boston Marathon she finished ahead of the "then NY winner." This suggests that she beat the reigning NYC champion. Nina Kuscsik did not win the NYC Marathon in 1977. She did not win in 1976. She did not win in 1975. She did not win in 1974. She won in 1973 (and 1972). To be fair to Ms. Petronella, she is such a poor writer that she may not have intended to mislead anyone.

3) It is nice that she now has a firm handle on her marathon P.R. In an on-line interview, she claimed that it was 2:54. By the way, her marathon P.R. was 6 minutes slower than the qualifying time for the 1984 Olympic Trials. It is a little hard to believe that she was the favorite for the Olympic gold medal, isn't it?

Ms. Petronella's strange claims about being an Olympic favorite or a world-class runner are a serious disservice to the true pionners of this sport. Ms. Petronella claims to be an advocate for women in sport. How can that be? She is unfairly taking something that belongs to the women who really were world-class runners in the late 1970's and early 80's. The real victims of her nonsense (other than, I suppose, anyone foolish enough to buy her junk) are people like (to name but a few):

Dillon

Benoit

Cooksey

Brown

Waitz

Kristansen

Larrieu

Merrill

Ms. Petronella:

In support of your strange claim that you were a world-class runner and an Olympic favorite, you rely on the fact that you once finished ahead of Nina Kuscsik (5 years after she won the NYC Marathon).

In the 1983 Bloomsday Road Race about 60 or 70 people finished ahead of Henry Rono. This was 5 years after he set 4 world-records in 81 days. Based on your reasoning, it appears that there were 60 or 70 Olympic favorites in that race. I should attempt to contact these people to let them know that they should update their resumes. This will be like an early Christmas gift for a lot of people.

Ms. Petronella, I know where you are coming from. My coach "predicted" that I would run a 2:06 marathon but I had to retire from the sport to make America a better place to live. I should point out that at the time I may have been self-coached.

As I look back on my contributions to the sport I realize that I was also responsible for some of the greatest moments in running history. For example, in 1978 I was a big fan of David Moorecroft. At the time he had no idea that he could run 13:00 for 5000m. I did. Guess who ran 13:00 in 1982? Of course, he would now likely deny my contribution to his record.

Don't even get me started on what I did for Coe, Ovett, Cram, Salazar, Nenow, Kennedy, Porter, Cruz, Eyestone, Kardong, Meyer, Beardsley, Sandoval, Wells, Lindsay and Kempainen.

Ms. Petronella:

Given the very prominent role you say you played in Joan Benoit's development I was surprised to see that you weren't even mentioned in her 1987 autobiography, Running Tide. Perhaps I missed something - please provide the page references where you were mentioned.

You say that you were her coach. You were the one who made her understand that she could beat Waitz. You were "VERY INSTRUMENTAL" in Benoit's development. Benoit's gold medal was an accomplishment that belonged to both of you. Both of you made history that day in the summer of 1984. You were the only one who "gave a dam [sic] about her".

I can only think of two possible reasons for this obvious ommission in Benoit's autobiography:

1) Benoit is a terrible, ungrateful person.

2) You have vastly overstated your involvement in Benoit's life.

Which is it?

Given the fact that you have not fairly represented your running accomplishments (you were never a world-class runner and you were not the favorite to win an Olympic gold medal), what do you think a reasonable person would conclude?

Of course, perhaps you have some evidence that would convince us that you were 'VERY INSTRUMENTAL" in Benoit's victory in L.A. Perhaps you could provide some verifiable information which would support your claim that you were the favorite to win the Olympic marathon in 1980. Since there was no marathon for women in the 1980 Olympics and because your best marathon time would have been 6 minutes slower than the qualifying time for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1984, I won't hold my breath waiting for a meaningful response from you.

Dumbass, stop putting this garbage on this board and go email her yourself. Nobody else really cares and somebody else has already shown that she's interested in responding via email.

Nobody cares?? Sounds like a typical fan who does not want to know about steroids in their sport as well...either way, they're all cheaters, right??

Lynn, is that you?

I will continue to post information and questions regarding this issue. I am not going away. If you don't like it, you don't have to read this thread. This is about ensuring that the ground-breaking work of Waitz, Dillon, Benoit, et al is properly protected. This is about Bob Sevene. This is about the truth. This is about providing people with the necessary information before they decide to buy a book based on highly suspect claims.

As I have said many times, I look forward to Ms. Petronella providing us with verifiable facts to back up her claims. The moment she does, I will be the first to acknowledge her place in the sport. However, given the fact that she has admitted that her best time was 2:57 we know, contrary to he claim, that she was never the favorite for an Olympic gold medal. We also know, contary to her claim, that she was never a world-class runner. There is no evidence to back up any of her claims regarding her abilities as a runner. I look forward to Ms. Petronella demonstrating that she had a very important role in Ms. Benoit's Olympic gold medal.

Congratulations. You have exposed this woman for the fraud we all knew she was. What's next on your agenda - proving the earth is round?

Canada 77,

Better late than never, but here goes: I posted 'why' under the name 'why' because my previous post was denied stating "you have been banned from posting in response..." or something like that. I understand

Canada 77,

Better late than never, but here goes: I posted 'why' under the name 'why' because my previous post was denied stating "you have been banned from posting in response..." or something like that. I understand