By Kalle Oakes,Staff Writer

While Seth Wescott is the first Maine athlete to win a gold medal at the Winter Games, he continued a strong, recent tradition of homegrown talent bringing home the top prize for the U.S. Olympic Team.

Three athletes from the Greater Portland area previously captured Summer Olympic gold, all within the last 22 years.

Joan Benoit Samuelson’s 1984 triumph in Los Angeles shattered a glass ceiling for both Maine Olympians and women’s distance runners around the world. Samuelson dominated the first-ever women’s marathon, winning with a time of 2 hours, 24 minutes, 52 seconds.

Maine’s first gold medalist and its newest one are connected in more ways than you might imagine.

Samuelson initially turned to running as part of her rehabilitation to strengthen a leg that was broken in a skiing accident.

She was later trained by Wescott’s father, then a track and field coach at Colby College who worked with the U.S. team.

Prior to her Olympic triumph, Samuelson captured the Boston Marathon in 1979 and 1983. One year after winning the gold, she was presented the James E. Sullivan Award as the country’s top amateur athlete.

A native of Cape Elizabeth, Samuelson, now 48, founded the Beach to Beacon 10-kilometer race.

The event attracts a world-class field of male and female runners to Samuelson’s hometown each summer.

Ian Crocker swam a leg of the victorious 400-meter medley relay team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and he successfully defended the honor in Athens two years ago.

Crocker began his career in Portland youth programs. He ascended through the U.S. national system as a student at Cheverus High School and moved on to the University of Texas, one of the leading NCAA programs.

Now 23, Crocker also is a four-time world champion and the world record holder in the 100-meter butterfly.

While Portland’s Wyatt Allen didn’t bask in the same national acclaim, he shared the spotlight with Crocker as a gold medalist in Greece.

Allen was a member of the rowing team in the men’s eight competition, helping the U.S. win that event for the first time in 40 years.