Who was the first official women’s Boston Marathon winner in 1972?

Nina Kuscsik was the first official women’s Boston Marathon winner in 1972.

Kuscsik won the 1972 Boston Marathon in 3:10:26, becoming the first woman recognized as an official champion in the race’s history. The Boston Athletic Association had only recently begun allowing women to enter officially, following years in which women ran the course without formal recognition.

Her victory came during a major turning point for women’s distance running in the United States. The Amateur Athletic Union had removed its ban on women competing in road races in 1971, helping open larger events to female entrants.

Bobbi Gibb and Kathrine Switzer are closely associated with earlier breakthroughs at Boston, but neither was the first official women’s winner. Gibb ran unofficially in 1966, while Switzer entered with an official race number in 1967 before formal women’s championship status existed.