Lynn Jennings

Lynn Alice Jennings (born July 1, 1960) is a retired American long-distance runner. She is one of the best female American runners of all time, with a range from 1500 meters to the marathon. She excelled at all three of the sport's major disciplines: track, road, and cross country. She won the bronze in the Women's 10,000 metres at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She set a world indoor record in the 5000 meter run in 1990.

She is a nine-time champion of the USA Cross Country Championships and won the IAAF World Cross Country Championships three times consecutively from 1990 to 1992. Only two other women (Norway's Grete Waitz and Kenya's Edith Masai) have achieved this feat.

Career Born in Princeton, New Jersey, Jennings attended the Bromfield school in Harvard, Massachusetts. She ran on the boys' cross country team, as there was no girls' team at the time. Jennings won the U.S. National Cross Country Championship nine times. She ran the Boston Marathon unofficially in 1978 and finished in 2:46, a time which would have placed third in the open women's division and a record for her age group '. Graduating in Harvard, MA, in 1978, she left behind countless records, including the national high school indoor 1500-meters run. Despite numerous college running titles, she left the university "unsatisified" with her performance. She failed to qualify for the 1984 Olympics, and bronze medal in 2011, in the women's grand master single scull event at the Head of the Charles Regatta, one of the most competitive and prestigious long-distance rowing races in the world.

In 2023, Jennings revealed that she had suffered sexual abuse at the hands of her longtime coach John Babington starting from when she was 15 years old. Babington, who was accused of abusing two other girls, confessed to the majority of accusations when questioned by The Boston Globe but cannot be charged due to the statute of limitations.

Achievements Representing the 1986 World Cross Country Championships Neuchâtel, Switzerland 2nd 1987 World Cross Country Championships Warsaw, Poland 4th World Championships Rome, Italy 6th 10,000 m 31:45.43 1988 World Cross Country Championships Auckland, New Zealand 4th Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea 6th 10,000 m 31:39.93 1989 World Cross Country Championships Stavanger, Norway 6th 1990 World Cross Country Championships Aix-les-Bains, France 1st Goodwill Games Seattle, United States 3rd 3000 m 8:52.34 1991 World Cross Country Championships Antwerp, Belgium 1st World Championships Tokyo, Japan 5th 10,000 m 31:54.44 1992 World Cross Country Championships Boston, United States 1st Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain 3rd 10,000 m 31:19.89 1993 World Indoor Championships Toronto, Canada 3rd 3000 m 9:03.78 World Cross Country Championships Amorebieta-Etxano, Spain 3rd World Championships Stuttgart, Germany 5th 10,000 m 31:30.53 1995 World Indoor Championships Barcelona, Spain 2nd 3000 m 8:55.23 World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 12th 10,000 m 32:12.82 1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 9th 5000 m 15:17.50 Circuit wins Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women: 1977, 1989–1993 Cinque Mulini (XC): 1986, 1987 Pittsburgh Great Race: 1986 Freihofer's Run for Women: 1987, 1988, 1990, 1993–1996, 1998 Charlotte Observer 10K: 1987, 1988, 1992 Peachtree Road Race: 1987 Gate River Run: 1988, 1996, 1997, 1999 Falmouth Road Race: 1992 Bay to Breakers: 1993 Tulsa Run: 1993 Crim Festival of Races: 1993 Manchester Road Race: 1994 Feaster Five Road Race: 1996, 1997 Mid Winter Classic: 1996, 1998