kritter wrote:
Slaney was not at the top of her game in '84. She was beaten in the 1500 by Wysocki at FOT. As noted earlier she was not comfortable in a race unless she was leading, and she was not leading when she tried to pull into a gap that wasn't there. When Slaney used to train in Eugene, her husband Dick would chase everyone off the track so she could do her workout by herself or with Twomey. Never developed a tactical sense.
Dick Brown was not her husband, he was her coach - let's get that corrected first.
Wysocki beat Slaney - but with prelims and finals in a hot LA, is was an aggressive double that didn't work out and the winning 1500 meter time was down around 4 flat. I am sure that is why she decided to focus on one event.
I hardly think the loss was some form of "struggling" unless you have some additional information to contribute.
Yes, she did not know how to run in a pack, but certaintly Budd did not know how to either. It appears it was one of those tangles that happen in track, but if you view the tape, Slaney clips the heal of Zola, who appears to be running steady in the outside of lane one.