Zola Budd, a class act. Mary Slamey, a bitter rhymes with witch

Ridiculous comparison - anyone who’s spikes have been clipped in a race or has tripped over a tree root in training knows perfectly well, that sometimes you’re back on your feet in an instance, wondered what the hell happened - other times, you’re knocked out for seconds and take some time to get back on your feet and start running again.

In my eyes Jim Ryan was as great competitor as any - but even he couldn’t make up the ground lost when he was tripped in the heats of the 1500 back in the 72 Olympics.

from wiki

Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd. Decker said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn’t the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack." [6]

RootieKazootie wrote:

from wiki

Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd. Decker said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn’t the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack." [6]

first of all it's not research, it's wiki. Second, I hopr you are pointing out to us that this passage makes no sense. On one hand it says she was "unfairly robbed by Budd", she then supposedly says it was her own fault.

We should all be able to judge for ourselves. We all have our opinion. Budd led a tragic life, Mary ended up not a whole lot better. I find this race a microcosm of their individual lives and see analysis of such as an interesting sociological study.

maybe the most interesting thing about it is that everyone has such strong definitive opinions about what happened. if this anything other than mary slaney's "coronation" (as it was so aptly described earlier) race, no one would even care that two 3k runners got their legs tangled. but because it was such a hot rivalry someone HAS to be in the wrong. why is that? why can't it be that @#$%$ simply happens?

F*** you. God, I hate it when people piss on information because it was sourced from Wikipedia. It's a direct quote from Mary Slaney herself, first of all. And secondly, it was posted in Wikipedia with a reference to source material:

READ IT AND STFU.

Judge for yourself all you want, but this isn't FOX News. You don't get to make up facts on which to base your flawed judgments.

What a load of bullshit. My opinion is you are a pompous gasbag who is capable of little to no rational thought.

Here ya go. Better video. Here's you mark starting at 7:30. Mary can't get any closer to the rail than that. There's enough footage to show that Zola never was far enough ahead to cut in without getting their legs tangled. Must be that Zola cut in too soon. Whether or not you like Mary....she got hosed.I'm sure 99% of the people here would have been pissed, too. After so many years of frustration and then this. Like it or not, Mary is the best runner, at any distance this country has ever had.

what champions are made of wrote:

Watch the video of any top level middle distance track race: contact, even hard contact, is almost the rule.

Munich 1972, Men's 10,000 meter finals. Watch a true champion respond to a collision and fall:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkXsjfVnG0k

It would have been slightly more difficult for Slaney to have done this as she tore a muscle in the fall and was unable to walk afterwards

Nice. Obviously a well thought out response. Well done. Certainly adds validity to your points. End of thread.

You are the winner.

The problem wasn't that Mary was running too far from the rail, it was that she was clipping someone from behind...

I remember watching this race, and I was in high school at the time. I remember wanting Slaney to win, mainly because she was American and at the time I thought she was hot. Of course I was 18 and most women looked hot to me at the time.

My recollection is at the time it happened the commentators for the US completely blamed Budd, which I think led most people to think it was her fault.

Then, a couple of days later I remember seeing the same commentators backtrack and say it wasn't so clear who was at fault.

Regardless, Slaney could not have handled the situation with less class. For me, she became someone to root against and no longer hot at all.

For what it is worth, Puica was going to beat both of them anyway.

Agreed, your video demonstrates that Mary is tight inside of lane 1, but watching the first film, it is clear that there were TWO distinct contacts between the runners. Watching the two videos side-by-side, what your video also demonstrates is that Budd didn't move off her line until after the FIRST contact. Budd's line is tight and aggressive - absolutely no doubt about that - but not illegal.

There's been a lot of silly talk on this thread, and using the phrase "cut in" is disingenuous and easily falsifiable - not least because, had Budd "cut in", she would have been disqualified by the Referee.

only me wrote:

Agreed, your video demonstrates that Mary is tight inside of lane 1, but watching the first film, it is clear that there were TWO distinct contacts between the runners. Watching the two videos side-by-side, what your video also demonstrates is that Budd didn't move off her line until after the FIRST contact. Budd's line is tight and aggressive - absolutely no doubt about that - but not illegal.

There's been a lot of silly talk on this thread, and using the phrase "cut in" is disingenuous and easily falsifiable - not least because, had Budd "cut in", she would have been disqualified by the Referee.

I can agree with this. Maybe "drifted in" is a better way to put it, as "cutting in" makes the shift in positions sound intentional on Budd's part. I think the slow mo in the first video shows the entirety of before, during, and after the two collisions starting around 4:55?

silly old fossil wrote:

Canada84 wrote:

Your memory fails you, Old Fossil. At the 84 Olympics Budd could hardly be compared to the annoying 8 year old who lines up on the front line of a road race. At the time she had the WR for the 5000. She had run 8:37 for the 3000 before LA. 8 months after the Olympics she won the World XC Championship. I believe that but for the accident Budd would have won a medal that day.

No, your memory fails you, my bacon loving friend.

All those times you cite were front-running solo efforts in South Africa. She had absolutely no experience running in a pack. In that sense Budd was a neophyte.

To the other runners in the Olympic final she could be considered an annoyance, the way Mohammed Kedir was at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

Fair enough???

This is a video of Budd's final race before the Olympics. It's not in South Africa and it's not a solo effort.

“The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn’t the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack.”

--Mary Slaney, as quoted int he New York Times, published August 1, 2008.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/an-olympic-blast-from-the-past/

It doesn't get any more cut and dry than this. Good work finding that quote, RootieKazootie.

Watch the video CLOSELY at 5:13, and you will see that Budd's left foot kicks HER OWN right leg, causing her left leg to swing into the path of Slaney, causing the trip. Certainly not intentional on Budds part, but certainly her fault.

Although it adds nothing to the discussion, I actually had a few training runs in the company of the then Zola Budd.

Ironically, including the very last one before she left Britain for good and reverted back to being a South African.

I joked afterwards - “Was it anything I said?”

But frankly, Zola Budd shouldn’t have been competing at the 84 Olympics at all.

She became famous in sporting circles setting a world record for the 5000 in South Africa at the age of 17, running in bare feet.

It was at the instigation of one of our national newspapers, the Daily Mail, who discovered her grandfather was British, that set the ball rolling to get her a British passport in record time, for the sole purpose of her running for Britain in the Olympics.

South Africa at that time had a sports boycott over apartheid.

From what I recall, she arrived in Britain in early 84, had a few races, including the trials and easily got in the British team, but with virtually no experience of running in a major games.

She only turned 18 in the May of that year.

She was always a controversial figure, especially as we had a large anti-apartheid pressure group, who never accepted she was other than a white South African.

There was always a posse of them encamped outside the South African embassy making noisy protests - and one day, soon after their supporters had disrupted a cross- country race because Zola was competing, I was passing, having had a few drinks - and I challenged them to try taking me on instead of a tiny, barefoot girl!

I never did find out what the outcome would have been, because, after a stand-off, the two policemen guarding the embassy, jumped in and ushered me away.

so clear cut - take a look at 4:40 to 4:50. budd had the lane at one point - she was clear of slaney. slaney kept coming up on the inside - I don't care where she is in the lane, not budd's fault at all. She is out front - people behind need to stay clear.I also don't care how little experience budd had running in packs. Are only experienced runners allowed to win gold at the olympics? No way. She can run however she likes - however weird it may seem - as long as she doesn't break the rules she is good.

Pete S. wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QF9vOnkzvk&feature=related

Here ya go. Better video. Here's you mark starting at 7:30. Mary can't get any closer to the rail than that. There's enough footage to show that Zola never was far enough ahead to cut in without getting their legs tangled. Must be that Zola cut in too soon. Whether or not you like Mary....she got hosed.I'm sure 99% of the people here would have been pissed, too. After so many years of frustration and then this. Like it or not, Mary is the best runner, at any distance this country has ever had.

So, what happens when two people who are inexperienced running in packs run in a pack?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QF9vOnkzvk

Pete S. wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QF9vOnkzvk&feature=related

Here ya go. Better video. Here's you mark starting at 7:30. Mary can't get any closer to the rail than that. There's enough footage to show that Zola never was far enough ahead to cut in without getting their legs tangled. Must be that Zola cut in too soon. Whether or not you like Mary....she got hosed.I'm sure 99% of the people here would have been pissed, too. After so many years of frustration and then this. Like it or not, Mary is the best runner, at any distance this country has ever had.

Too many must be's and could be's.

Slaney tripped once and didn't back off. Sure....you can say that maybe Budd shouldn't have been there....however the first trip should have been an open invitation to back down just a bit.

Neither runner was comfortable in a crowd and it showed. Those comfortable in a crowd....ie Puica who managed to catch herself before she fell, Sly, et al....ran through without further incident which really isn't surprising.