Latest news with #NinaKuscsik
Wall Street Journal
04-07-2025
- General
- Wall Street Journal
Nina Kuscsik, Who Was Crucial in Opening Distance Running to Women, Dies at 86
From her home in Huntington Station, N.Y., Nina Kuscsik could get a mile in by running around her block six times or circling the nearby schoolyard twice. If her three children were asleep, she would run into the house every mile or so to check on them. If they were playing in the front yard, she could keep an eye on them.
Daily Mail
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
History-making female marathon runner Nina Kuscsik dead at 86
Pioneering long-distance runner Nina Kuscsik has died aged 86, her family has announced. The former athlete passed away on June 8 from respiratory failure in Brookhaven, New York, after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease. She was influential in paving the way for women to compete in the Boston and New York Marathons before both races created women's divisions. In 1972, she became the first winner of the Boston Marathon's women's race. A year later, she repeated the feat for the New York Marathon. Before Kuscsik's involvement with race organizers, women were discouraged - if not straight-up banned - from competing in the nation's premier long-distance races. Kuscsik retired from competitive running in 1984. However, she stayed being a champion for women's sports by helping add the women's marathon as an Olympic event. 'Kuscsik changed the sport of running by breaking through the "Boys' Club" barrier and changing the rules so they included women. A humble but consistently excellent distance runner throughout the 1970s, she opened doors for future generations,' New York Road Runners said in a statement. The organizers of the Boston Marathon also paid tribute to Kuscsik. 'Nina was more than a pioneer, determined women's running advocate, and celebrated icon within the sport. To us, she was a friend who will always be remembered for her kindness, joyful laugh, and smile,' the Boston Athletic Association said in a statement. 'Nina held the distinct honor of winning the 1972 Boston Marathon and recognized the platform that came with that triumphant moment, inspiring thousands of women to reach their own goals and finish lines in the decades since.' Before Kuscsik was a long-distance runner, she was a New York state champion in speed skating and cycling.
Daily Mail
17-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS History-making female marathon runner Nina Kuscsik dead at 86
Pioneering long-distance runner Nina Kuscsik passed away last week at age 86, her family announced, with no immediate cause for her passing publicized. Kuscsik was influential in paving the way for women to compete in the Boston and New York Marathons before both races created women's divisions. In 1972, she became the first winner of the Boston Marathon's women's race. A year later, she repeated the feat for the New York Marathon.
Washington Post
17-06-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
Nina Kuscsik, marathon pioneer and first (official) winner of Boston women's race, has died
BOSTON — Nina Kuscsik, who campaigned for women's inclusion in long-distance running and then won the Boston Marathon the first year that they were officially allowed to enter into the race, has died. She was 86. An obituary for the A.L. Jacobsen Funeral Home in Huntington Station, New York, said Kuscsik died June 8 of respiratory failure after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Al Arabiya
17-06-2025
- Health
- Al Arabiya
Nina Kuscsik, Pioneer in Long-Distance Running and First Woman to Win the Boston Marathon, Has Died
Nina Kuscsik, who campaigned for women's inclusion in long-distance running and then won the Boston Marathon the first year that they were officially allowed to enter the race, has died. She was 86. An obituary for the A.L. Jacobsen Funeral Home in Huntington Station, New York, said Kuscsik died June 8 of respiratory failure after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. 'Nina was more than a pioneer, determined women's running advocate, and celebrated icon within the sport. To us, she was a friend who will always be remembered for her kindness, joyful laugh, and smile,' the Boston Athletic Association said on Instagram. 'Nina held the distinct honor of winning the 1972 Boston Marathon and recognized the platform that came with that triumphant moment, inspiring thousands of women to reach their own goals and finish lines in the decades since. The BAA extends heartfelt condolences to Nina's family, friends, and all in the running community who were touched by her grace.' According to the obituary, Kuscsik graduated from high school at 16, studied nursing for two years, and received her license at 18 after petitioning to change a New York law that required nurses to be 21. She won state championships in speed skating, roller skating, and cycling – all in the same year – before turning to running when her bicycle broke. She ran the Boston Marathon four times from 1968–71 – before women were officially welcomed, a period retroactively recognized as the Pioneer Era – and then won the first official women's race in 1972. She was also the first woman to enter the New York race in 1970 and was one of the Six Who Sat – six women who refused to start the '72 New York City Marathon for 10 minutes to protest an Amateur Athletic Union rule that the women's race had to be separate from the men's. She won that year and the next year as well. She later served on AAU and USA Track and Field committees drafting rules for women's running. Kathrine Switzer, who entered the 1971 Boston Marathon using her initials and became the first woman to officially compete, called Kuscsik 'one of our greatest leaders.' 'Nina was not only a champion runner but was instrumental in the official acceptance of women in distance running because she did years of tough work of changing rules, regulations, and submitting medical evidence to prove women's capability,' said Switzer, who started alongside Kuscsik and six other women who met the qualifying time for the 1972 Boston race. 'Eight of us registered, eight of us showed up, and all eight of us finished,' she said. 'It was a stunning moment – and a blistering hot day – but appropriately enough, Nina won.' In addition to the more than 80 marathons she ran over her lifetime, Kuscsik set the American record for the 50-mile run in 1977 and won the Empire State Building Run-Up three straight years from 1979–81. She was inducted into the Long Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1999.
