Grete Waitz, Norwegian great who won New York City Marathon 9 times, dies at 57

Grete Waitz, who won nine New York City Marathons and a silver medal at the 1984 Olympics, died Tuesday after a six-year battle with cancer, Norway’s athletics federation said.

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Oct. 21, 1979

Grete Waitz and Bill Rodgers sport crowns of laurel leaves as they are presented with inscribed awards honoring their first-place finishes in the New York City Marathon.

/ AP

Oct. 22, 1979

New York City Marathon winners Grete Waitz and Bill Rodgers look at the results of Sunday's race posted at a Manufacturer Hanover bank in New York. Waitz finished first among the female runners with a record-breaking time of 2:27:33. Rodgers won the race with a time of 2:11:42.

Dave Pickoff / AP

Nov. 4, 1979

Grete Waitz of Norway rounds a turn on a horse racetrack in Hollywood during the 10,000-meter race as an unidentified man offers encouragement. Waitz won the race with a time of 32:42:01.

Reed Saxon / AP

Jan. 5, 1980

Grete Waitz finishes the women's 3,000-meter race at the Runners World Classic in San Francisco. It was discovered soon after the race that Waitz and the other competitors had run an extra lap on the Cow Palace track, adding 160 yards to the 3,000 meters.

/ AP

March 9, 1980

Norway's Grete Waitz is all smiles after her third straight win at the women's world cross country championships at Longchamp stadium in Paris. Waitz's triple crown is the first ever in the history of the event.

Remy de la Mauviniere / AP

May 30, 1981

Norway's Grete Waitz, world record holder for the women's 10,000-meter race, crosses the finish line to win the L'Eggs Mini Marathon in New York's Central Park for the third consecutive year.

David Handschuh / AP

May 31, 1982

Norway's Grete Waitz acknowledges the crowd after winning her fourth L'Eggs Mini Marathon in New York's Central Park. She won the 10,000-meter event in an unofficial time of 0:31:59.

Suzanne Vlamis

July 4, 1983

Grete Waitz of Norway, winner of the women's division of the Peachtree Road Race, poses with her brother Jan Andersen in front of the hotel where they are staying.

Joe Holloway Jr.

Oct. 19, 1983

Marathon champion Grete Waitz takes a break from running in New York's Central Park.

Marty Lederhandler

Oct. 27, 1983

Grete Waitz of Norway shakes hands with President Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office of the White House.

Barry Thumma

April 12, 1984

Norvegian runner Grete Waitz, right, the first female marathon world champion, holds her French Academy Sport Award after receiving the trophy from French sports official Simone Berlioux, left, during a ceremony in Paris.

/ AP

June 2, 1984

Grete Waitz of Norway, left, at the finish line after winning the L'Eggs Mini Marathon title in a light rain in New York's Central Park. Waitz ran away from a field of 5,800 runners to regain the title in 31 minutes, 53 seconds.

Karen Leff / AP

Oct. 28, 1984

Grete Waitz, second from left, runs along First Avenue in the Manhattan section of New York during the New York City Marathon.

Debbie Hodgson

April 27, 1985

Grete Waitz running during the Trevira twosome race at Central Park in New York.

Mario Suriani / AP

April 20, 1986

Norway's Grete Waitz is observed by two Beefeater Guards as she runs alongside the Tower of London during the London Marathon.

Richard Price / AP

Nov. 3, 1986

Grete Waitz signs autographs for office workers on their way to work at Fifth Avenue and 43rd Street in New York, where she was visiting the Manufacturers Hanover Trust Bank to check her official finishing time posted on the bank's window.

David Bookstaver

Sept. 22, 1987

Grete Waitz of Norway holds the Tanqueray Achievement Award in New York for excellence in amateur sports.

G. Paul Burnett / AP

Sept. 23, 1988

Norway's Grete Waitz grabs a water bottle as she passes a water point on the route of the Olympic women's marathon in Seoul. Waitz finished 13th overall.

Massimo Sambucetti / AP

Aug. 7, 1991

Nine-time New York City Marathon winner Grete Waitz of Norway, left, looks on as Mayor David Dinkins picks the first 10 names in the annual marathon lottery on the steps of City Hall.

Mario Suriani

Oct. 19, 1993

Norwegian marathon runner Grete Waitz, left, displays a one-of-a-kind T-shirt auctioned off to Inger Tallaksen, right, at a promotional event for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, held outside New York's Plaza Hotel.

Ed Bailey / AP

Nov. 6, 1994

Grete Waitz of Norway, left, chats with Zoe Koplowitz at the finish line of the New York City Marathon after Koplowitz finished 26 hours after beginning the race. Koplowitz, 46, ran her first marathon since 1987, 13 years after being diagnosed with muliple sclerosis, and finished the race on crutches.

Osamu Honda

May 11, 1995

Norway's Grete Waitz, nine-time winner of the New York City Marathon, waves to runners at the start of the Chemical Bank Corporate Challenge in New York.

Clark Jones / AP

June 2, 1998

Health Secretary Donna Shalala, wearing No. 1, breaks the finish line followed by Andrea Jung, president of Avon Products, center, and nine-time New York City Marathon champion Grete Waitz in New York's landmark Central Park.

Marty Leederhadler / AP

Oct. 31, 2006

Nine-time New York City marathon winner Grete Waitz, right, chats with 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Deena Kastor, who was the year's London marathon winner with an American record 2:19:36, near the marathon finish line in New York's Central Park.

Kathy Willens / AP

Oct. 30, 2009

Grete Waitz, of Norway, a nine-time winner of the New York City marathon, introduces Britain's Paula Radcliffe, right, the defending marathon champion, during a news conference in New York.