Francie Larrieu Smith
Frances Anne "Francie" Larrieu Smith (November 23, 1952) is an American
She won a World Road Race Championships silver medal at 15 km in 1990. Larrieu Smith is also a former world indoor record holder at the mile. She holds the Texas Relays Women's Invitational Record for both the 1,500 meters and 10,000 meters, set in 1983 and 1991, respectively.
From 1999 to 2019, Larrieu Smith was a cross country and track coach at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.[2] In 2019 Coach Smith retired from Southwestern, and passed the torch on the cross country, track and field (XC T&F) program. She lives happily in central Texas with her husband.
Early life and career
Smith was born in
Smith has a master's degree in sports administration from the
Longevity
Larrieu Smith had one of the lengthiest distance running careers, beginning with the 1972 Olympics as a 19-year-old running the 1500 metres, then the longest distance race for women, and again in the 1976 Olympics. She also qualified for the 1980 Summer Olympics but did not participate because of the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. Her best performance was when she finished 5th in the Women's 10,000 metres in 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Her final appearance was finishing 12th in the marathon in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona where, as the elder stateswoman of American track and field at age 39, she was selected to be the flagbearer in the opening ceremonies. She was the youngest female 1500 meter runner the U.S. has ever sent to the Olympics and the oldest female in any track and field event.[6]
She was elected into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1998. She was inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1999. Runner's World magazine named her "The Most Versatile runner of the Quarter Century".[3] Smith was Inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Class of 2017.
Achievements
- 6-Times US 1500 m Champion (1972, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979 & 1980)
- Recipient of one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for athletes who were prevented from competing in the 1980 Summer Games.[7]
- 2-Time US 3000 m Champion (1979, 1982)
- US 10,000 m Champion (1985) – also won the 1985 US 10 km road title (tied with Betty Springs)
- 4 Times US Indoor 1 mile Champion (1975, 1977, 1978, 1979)
- 2 Time US Indoor 2 mile Champion (1977, 1981)
- Qualified for 5 US Olympic teams (1972, 1976, 1980, 1988, 1992) prevented from competing in 1980, due to the Olympic boycott by the U.S.
- Inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Class of 2017[8]
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing the United States | |||||
1972 | Olympic Games | Munich, Germany
|
semi-final | 1500 m | 4:15.26 |
1976 | Olympic Games | Montreal, Canada
|
semi-final | 1500 m | 4:09.07 |
1977 | IAAF World Cup | Düsseldorf, Germany
|
2nd | 1500 m | 4:13.0 |
1979 | IAAF World Cup | Montreal, Canada
|
3rd | 1500 m | 4:09.16 |
3rd | 3000 m | 8:53.02 | |||
1986 | Houston Marathon | Houston, United States | 2nd | Marathon | 2:33:37 |
1987 | World Championships | Rome, Italy
|
15th | 10,000 m | 32:30.00 |
1988 | Olympic Games | Seoul, South Korea
|
5th | 10,000 m | 31:35.52 |
1990 | London Marathon | London, United Kingdom
|
2nd | Marathon | 2:28:01 |
World Women's Road Race Championships | Dublin, Ireland
|
2nd | 15 km | 50:15 | |
1992 | Houston Marathon / US Women's Olympic Trial | Houston, United States | 3rd | Marathon | 2:30:39 |
Olympic Games | Barcelona, Spain
|
12th | Marathon | 2:41:09 |
References
- ^ "Team USA Media Guide | History: Individual Records (Overall) – U.S". London2012.visionbox.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
- ^ Southwestern University: Cross Country: Coaching Staff
- ^ a b c "Francine Larrieu (Smith)". USATF Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- ^ "Hickoksports". Archived from the original on May 9, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- ^ Moore, Kenny. "A Long Run Gets Longer". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
- ^ "T&FN: Youngest & Oldest U.S. Olympians". Archived from the original on January 19, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0942257403.
- ^ "Txtfhalloffame". Archived from the original on January 16, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
External links
- California State Records before 2000
- Francie Larrieu-Smith at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- Francie Larrieu-Smith at Olympics.com
- Francine Larrieu (Smith) at the USATF Hall of Fame (archived)