| Event: | Women's marathon |
| Games: | 1984 Summer |
| Venue: | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles |
| Competitors: | 50 |
| Nations: | 28 |
| Dates: | August 5 |
| Win Value: | 2:24:52 |
| Longnames: | yes |
| Gold: | Joan Benoit |
| Goldnoc: | USA |
| Silver: | Grete Waitz |
| Silvernoc: | NOR |
| Bronze: | Rosa Mota |
| Bronzenoc: | POR |
| Next: | 1988 |
The Women's Marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California (United States) was held on August 5, 1984. It was the first time a women's marathon had been held at the Olympic Games. The 50 competitors came from 28 countries. 44 finished the race.[1] The world record holder Joan Benoit of the United States won the gold medal by 1m 26, with the silver medal going to the 1983 World champion Grete Waitz of Norway, and bronze to Rosa Mota of Portugal.
Strategically, the race was notable for Benoit making a bold move in only the third mile of the race, despite the August heat. The rest of the field did not try to keep pace with her, and Benoit maintained her lead all the way to finish, defeating Waitz by more than a minute.
The race was also notable for Gabriela Andersen-Schiess from Switzerland, who entered the stadium for the final lap in a state of almost total exhaustion, barely able to walk but eventually completing the race, collapsing at the finishing line and being immediately treated by medical personnel. She finished 37th.
| DNS | did not start | |
| NM | no mark | |
| OR | olympic record | |
| WR | world record | |
| AR | area record | |
| NR | national record | |
| PB | personal best | |
| SB | season best |
| Standing records prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2:22:43 | April 18, 1983 |  Boston, United States | |||
| New Event | |||||
| 2:24:26 | May 13, 1984 |  London, United Kingdom | |||
| Broken records during the 1984 Summer Olympics | |||||
| 2:24:52 | August 5, 1984 | Los Angeles, United States | |||
| width=20 | Place | width=220 | Athlete | width=80 | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2:24:52 | |||||
| 2:26:18 | |||||
| 2:26:57 | |||||
| 4 | 2:27:34 | ||||
| 5 | 2:28:34 | ||||
| 6 | 2:28:54 | ||||
| 7 | 2:29:03 | ||||
| 8 | 2:29:09 | ||||
| 9 | 2:29:28 | ||||
| 10 | 2:32:07 | ||||
| 11 | 2:32:48 | ||||
| 12 | 2:33:01 | ||||
| 13 | 2:33:40 | ||||
| 14 | 2:34:08 | ||||
| 15 | 2:35:15 | ||||
| 16 | 2:35:56 | ||||
| 17 | 2:36:33 | ||||
| 18 | 2:36:41 | ||||
| 19 | 2:37:04 | ||||
| 20 | 2:37:06 | ||||
| 21 | 2:37:11 | ||||
| 22 | 2:37:51 | ||||
| 23 | 2:37:57 | ||||
| 24 | 2:38:01 | ||||
| 25 | 2:38:50 | ||||
| 26 | 2:40:52 | ||||
| 27 | 2:41:22 | ||||
| 28 | 2:41:27 | ||||
| 29 | 2:42:22 | ||||
| 30 | 2:42:27 | ||||
| 31 | 2:42:38 | ||||
| 32 | 2:44:44 | ||||
| 33 | 2:45:49 | ||||
| 34 | 2:46:12 | ||||
| 35 | 2:46:50 | ||||
| 36 | 2:47:33 | ||||
| 37 | 2:48:42 | ||||
| 38 | 2:50:58 | ||||
| 39 | 2:50:58 | ||||
| 40 | 2:51:03 | ||||
| 41 | 2:51:04 | ||||
| 42 | 2:51:35 | ||||
| 43 | 2:52:00 | ||||
| 44 | 2:52:19 | ||||
| — | DNF | ||||
| — | DNF | ||||
| — | DNF | ||||
| — | DNF | ||||
| — | DNF | ||||
| — | DNF |