Driscoll, Jean (1967—)

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Driscoll, Jean (1967—)

American champion wheelchair athlete who holds five world records and won the Boston Marathon's women's wheelchair title for seven consecutive years (1990–1996). Born in Champaign, Illinois, in 1967.

On April 15, 1996, when Jean Driscoll rolled to her seventh consecutive victory in the 100th Boston Marathon, she not only tied the record for the most Boston victories in any division, but came from behind to do so. Battling back from a broken leg that slowed her training for several months, Driscoll was only in fourth place at the 11th mile of the 26-mile course. She caught up while climbing the infamous hills of Newton; these grades spell disaster to most, but are the strongest part of her race. "I love those hills," she said. "I made up ground on all of them. And I never looked back until I got to the top of each hill. That's when I knew I was doing well." Driscoll beat second place Louise Sauvage of Australia by only 22 seconds, while Deanna Sodoma of Carlsbad, California, came in third, and Candace Cable of Truckee, California, took fourth place.

Driscoll, a native of Champaign, Illinois, was born with spina bifida and has never had the use of her legs. After her first road race—a five-miler—she was convinced that she would never do another. However, after competing for the wheelchair track-and-field team at the University of Illinois, where she later coached, she began to race in earnest. By 1996, in addition to her seven Boston wins, Driscoll held five world records.

To prepare for a marathon, Driscoll logs 150 miles a week and does speed repetitions of three-minute miles. She uses a 17-pound aluminum wheelchair and wears what look like mini boxing gloves to punch the wheels around. A mere 112 pounds, she can bench press 200 pounds, which accounts for her remarkable power on the upward climb. Driscoll is said to have the best strength-to-weight ratio of any woman wheelchair athlete in the world. In 1995, when she and other Boston winners joined President Bill Clinton for his morning jog, the president remarked, "You have the best looking arms in America."

In 1997, Driscoll's bid for an eighth straight Boston Marathon win was derailed by a trolley track. Rolling smoothly alongside Louise Sauvage at the 23rd mile, Driscoll caught her left wheel in a track bed, causing her racing chair to veer and flip. As Sauvage sped past her, Driscoll righted herself with some assistance from race workers and police, then pressed on. "I just kept saying, 'I can't give up. ‖ I've lost first … I can't win … but I've got to get second,'" she later recalled. While Sauvage took the win, Driscoll edged out Candace Cable for second place. She took her defeat in stride. "I'm a good Christian and I accept what happened," she told reporters. "Hey, I'm lucky I just scratched an elbow. Could have been worse. That's only my second accident racing."

In her limited spare time, Driscoll encourages teens to pursue their goal to win a Boston Marathon. "It bothers me that everyone says why even try," she explains. "Yes, the percentage of that happening is next to nothing. But if you are committed enough and make the sacrifices, it can happen."