Joyce Smith
Joyce Smith ( born Joyce Esther Byatt; born October 26, 1937 in Stoke Newington ) is a former English long-distance runner who began a successful career in the marathon at age 41.
Career
She began with the Running in the 50s to, at a time when the longest distance that was provided internationally for women, was the 800 -meter run, and won in 1959 and 1960, the National Cross Country Championship.
The opening of the longer distances for women's sport they motivated to return late 60s in competitive sports after a baby break. She presented in 1971 set a world record in the 3,000 -meter run and took the nations and the World Cross Country Championships Cross each one gold (1972 in San Sebastián ), silver ( 1973 in Waregem ) and bronze (1971, Cambridge ). At the games in Munich in 1972 she went to at the Olympic debut of the 1500 -meter run for women, reaching the semi-finals. A year later, she won her third national title in cross-country running, and at the European Athletics Championships 1974 in Rome, she won the bronze medal over 3000 m.
In 1978 she finished her track career with the 3000 - meter world record for the age group W40 of 9:11,2 min, which was to have 27 years of existence, and the following year she ran her first marathon. Although their goal was merely to have tried this distance once she corrected immediately with her time of 2:41:37 h the British record by nine minutes.
In the next few years she took the opportunities that were caused by this late discovered talent. In 1979 she won the Avon International Marathon ( at that time almost an unofficial World Cup) in Waldniel. 1979 and 1980 she won in the first two editions of the Tokyo International Women's Marathon. In 1980, she scored in Bruges with a 1:28:18 British record in the 25 - km road race and at the same time a W40 world record.
In 1981, she won the premiere of the London Marathon in 2:29:57 h and remained both as first British woman as well as the first woman over 40 in under 2:30 hours. A year later she repeated this victory and put it with 2:29:43 hours on their sixth British record in the marathon.
At the first World Athletics Championships 1983 in Helsinki, she was ninth. A year later she won, with nearly 47 years, the oldest athlete in Olympic history, the first Olympic women's marathon in the 1984 Games in Los Angeles eleventh place.
In 1986, she ended her career. Your time over 10 miles from this year ( 55:33 min) is still world record for the age group W45.
In 1984 it was awarded the title of MBE. She is still the runners world connected by the fact that she as well as her husband Bryan belongs to the Board of Trustees of the London Marathon Charitable Trust.