Bobbi Palma, left, and Joan Benoit Samuelson, Olympic gold medalist in the marathon, are reunited in May 2019. Bobbi Palma was instrumental in getting the women's marathon, 5K and 10K into the Olympics. (Photo courtesy of Bobbi Palma)

Olympic marathon gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson, left, competes during the 2003 Freihofer's Run for Women on Madison Avenue in Albany. Samuelson finished 32nd overall. (Times Union Staff photograph by Philip Kamrass)

Bobbi Palma was instrumental in getting the women’s marathon, 5K and 10K into the Olympics.

And that’s just a small part of her résumé advocating for women’s sports.

• USA Today: Fact check on Olympic boxers as conservatives seize on boxing to spread anti-trans rhetoric.

This column is sponsored by Times Union Women@Work, the Capital Region’s network of business and professional women. Join today at: https://womenatworkny.com

She has served as an official at the Olympics, Olympic trials, NCAA championships and Capital Region USA Track and Field events. She started the Track and Field program at UAlbany in 1971.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

Palma, 88, joined me in a Zoom call as the Paris Olympics kicked off.

When asked about her favorite Olympic memories, she reflected on watching Jackie Joyner-Kersee, the heptathlon and long-jump gold medalist.

She also detailed........

© Times Union