Jana Novotná was a Czech professional tennis player. She played a serve and volley game, an increasingly rare style of play among women during her career. Novotná won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in 1998, and was runner-up in three other majors. Novotná also won 12 major women's doubles titles, four major mixed doubles titles, and three Olympic medals. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 in 1997, and held the No. 1 ranking in doubles for 67 weeks.
Joan Benoit Samuelson is an American marathon runner who was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She held the fastest time for an American woman at the Chicago Marathon for 32 years after winning the race in 1985. Her time at the Boston Marathon was the fastest time by an American woman at that race for 28 years. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.
Catherine Nyambura Ndereba is a retired Kenyan marathon runner. Between 2003 and 2008, she finished in the top two in five successive global championship marathons. Ndereba has twice won the marathon at the World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the Summer Olympic Games in 2004 and 2008. She is also a four-time winner of the Boston Marathon and a two-time winner of the Chicago Marathon. It was at the latter in 2001 that she broke the women's marathon world record with a time of 2:18:47.
Conchita Martínez Bernat is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She was the first Spaniard to win the women's singles title at Wimbledon, doing so in 1994. Martínez also was the runner-up at the 1998 Australian Open and the 2000 French Open. She reached a career-high ranking of world No. 2 in October 1995, and was in the year-end top 10 for nine years. Martínez won 33 singles and 13 doubles titles during her 18-year career, as well as three Olympic medals. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2020.
Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, GCIH, GCM is a Portuguese former marathon runner, one of her country's foremost athletes, being the first sportswoman from Portugal to win Olympic gold. Mota was the first woman to win multiple Olympic marathon medals as well as being the only woman to be the reigning European, World, and Olympic champion at the same time. On the 30th Anniversary Gala of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) she was distinguished as the greatest female marathon runner of all time.
Gabriela "Gaby" Andersen-Schiess is a former Swiss long-distance runner who participated in the first women's Olympic marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Though living in Sun Valley, Idaho, and working as a ski instructor at the time, Andersen-Schiess represented Switzerland in the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Jeļena Prokopčuka is a retired Latvian long-distance runner, best known for winning the New York City Marathon in 2005 and 2006.
Elfenesh Alemu is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who specializes in the marathon race. She represented Ethiopia at the Summer Olympics in 2000 and 2004. She also competed in the marathon at the World Championships in Athletics four times consecutively from 1997 to 2003.
Svetlana Vladimirovna Zakharova, is a Russian long-distance runner, who specializes in marathon races. She won several international marathons, such as: the Honolulu Marathon, the Chicago Marathon (2003) and the Boston Marathon (2003). She participated twice in the Olympic Games.
Colleen S. De Reuck is a long-distance runner from South Africa, who became an American citizen on 11 December 2000. She has had a long-lasting career, running in her forties, and made a total of four appearances at the Summer Olympics.
Kate Tenforde is an American long-distance runner from Milton, Massachusetts. She represented the United States in the 2004 Summer Olympics, competing in the 10,000 metres.
Constantina Diță, is a Romanian long-distance runner, who specializes mainly in the half marathon and marathon. She was the marathon gold medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, having previously won a bronze medal at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. She also represented her country at the Olympics in 2000 and 2004.
Liza Marie Hunter-Galvan is a long-distance runner from New Zealand. She qualified to run the Women's Marathon in both the 2004 Athens Olympic Games as well as the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She resides in San Antonio, Texas and has won the Marathon of the Americas on four occasions. During her collegiate career she competed for UTSA and won the 1992 SLC Cross Country individual title, helping lead the Roadrunners to their second of three straight league crowns, and also qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Nancy Jane Ditz is a former American long-distance runner who is a United States national champion in the marathon. Ditz competed in the marathon at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Janis Kristin Klecker is a former American long-distance runner who is a two-time United States national champion in the marathon.
Linda Somers-Smith is an American long-distance runner who is a two-time United States national champion in the marathon. Somers competed in the marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics. She also won the 1992 Chicago Marathon (2:37:41) and the 1993 California International Marathon (2:34:11). Somers is notable as she is one of the very few athletes who has continued running at the elite level since she turned Pro in 1984 into the transition to Masters athlete. She continues to win and place in Open competition, even at the age of 50, all the while as a practicing attorney.
Mary Julie Isphording is a retired female long-distance runner from the United States. She competed for her native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. However, she did not reach the finish line there. Isphording set her personal best in the classic distance (2:30:54) in 1989.
Bobbi Gibb, the first woman to have run the entire Boston Marathon, sculpted the 12-inch bronze figurines of a pony-tailed girl running that were given as trophies to Joan Benoit Samuelson, Julie Brown (athlete), and Isphording, the top three women marathoners at the US Olympic trials in 1984.
Elsa Marisa Branco BarrosComM, known as Marisa Barros, is a Portuguese long-distance runner who specialises in marathon running. Her personal best for the distance is 2:25:04 hours.
Épiphanie Nyirabaramé is a Rwandan athlete who specialized in marathon and long-distance running. She represented Rwanda at two Olympic games.
Nina Kathy Rillstone is a New Zealand long-distance and marathon runner. She is a national champion in both middle and long-distance running, and a national record holder for the half-marathon.
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