Bill Rodgers (athlete)
William Henry Bill Rodgers is an American runner and former American record holder in the marathon who is best known for his four victories in the Boston Marathon, including three straight 19781980 and the New York City Marathon between 1976 and 1980.
Rodgers won both races four times each between 1975 and 1980, twice breaking the American record at Boston with a time of 20955 in 1975 and a 20927 in 1979. In 1977, he won the Fukuoka Marathon, making him the only runner ever to hold the championship of all three major marathons at the same time. He made the 1976 U.S. Olympic team and raced the marathon at the Montreal Olympics in 1976, finishing 40th. He did not participate in the Olympics in 1980 due to the U.S. boycott over the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR. Rodgers is also the last U.S.born winner in the mens or womens open divisions of the New York City Marathon to date the two subsequent American winners were born in Cuba and Eritrea .
Source: Wikipedia