Gayle Olinekova

Who was Gayle Olinekova?

Gayle Olinekova was a marathon runner and bodybuilder from Canada.

Olinekova grew up in Toronto, attending Alderwood High School and Ryerson Polytechnic Institute. She was the Canadian 400-meter champion in 1969 with a time of 55.5 seconds, and was a 400-meter and 800-meter runner on the Canadian national team in 1972. She later turned to distance running and became a world-class marathoner. Olinekova won the 1979 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon with a time of 2:35:12, then the third-fastest time ever for a female runner. She set the Canadian women's marathon record four times between 1977 and 1979. She also posted a time of 2:36:12 in the Fiesta Bowl Marathon in Scottsdale, Arizona on December 1, 1979.

Olinekova moved to Westlake Village, California to train for the first women’s Olympic marathon in 1984. However, she was seriously injured in a car accident; not only did she miss out on the Olympics, but her running career was ended as well.

Olinekova only competed once as a bodybuilder, in the Frank Zane Invitational on June 28, 1980. However, she had a significant impact on the sport due to her amazing quadriceps and calf development. Her amazing legs earned her national coverage in 1981, when she was the subject of a feature article in Sports Illustrated called "Greatest Legs To Ever Stride The Earth".