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

she really should've backed foo after the first bump. Even if she has the right to the space, she was risking her race by running that close for 50m.

Better to back off and use the next 3 laps to pass her than to fall down and start crying; that's what I always say...

wilfredo wrote:

she really should've backed foo after the first bump. Even if she has the right to the space, she was risking her race by running that close for 50m.

and her makeup

Added Perspective wrote:

Wow There wrote:

Slaney ran up right onto Zola Budd. It was not the first time she did that. Budd's culpability was zero. Looking at the tape now, that's quite clear.

Garbage. I have seen the race tape dozens of times. Budd was running in a horrendous position, not going fast enough to move all the way into lane one. If anything, she is lucky that Mary (or someone else) didn't accidentally spike her where she was running. Either pass and take the lead, or not. Don't choose something in between or something bad can potentially happen, and it did.

Budd's inexperience racing in a crowd essentially cost Mary an Olympic medal, probably the gold.

You may have seen the race tape dozens of times, but you've come up with a conclusion that's ridiculous. Mary ran into the back of Zola and tripped up. Her years of whining about this make me sick.

"You may have seen the race tape dozens of times, but you've come up with a conclusion that's ridiculous. Mary ran into the back of Zola and tripped up. Her years of whining about this make me sick."

I'm with Astro on this one. People see what they want to see. Budd did not "have the lane". Just because you have your torso ahead of someone does not mean that you own the lane, and it certainly does not entitle you to the inside of the lane in a long distance race, where the closer you are to the rail, the more of an advantage you will have, barring the final 200m where you really don't want to be boxed in (you may need to swing wide heading into the finish and give up precious meters in the final straightaway or even worse, the turn).

If anything, Slaney was in the more coveted position heading into the final laps, sitting on the shoulder of her competitor, running the shortest possible distance around the track, not yielding the inside to a rival that is attempting to complete her pass coming out of a turn. At no point is it required for a runner on the inside to yield that advantageous position. Other runners must EARN it by speeding up and making a clean pass. The front women had not yet begun their final efforts, and there was plenty of race left (4 full laps?) for Slaney to enjoy the benefit of the inside track position before maneuvering herself into a tactical spot for the finishing effort of the race. If Budd were well clear of Slaney (her full stride not overlapping Slaney's), and Slaney had sped up and out right onto Budd's heels, you guys may have a point about Slaney being at fault. She wasn't. Budd drifted into Slaney from the side, with her legs, and the tangle was caused.

In order to move further inside of that lane, closer to the rail, you MUST have enough clearance for your stride not to overlap another competitor. That is how you pass someone cleanly to the inside. Even for two tiny women, there is barely enough room for two bodies in one lane, and it doesn't take much more than a move from the middle to the inner-middle of a lane to cause chaos for the inside runner who is trapped against the rail.

Budd was moving from the disadvantaged position of being on the outside of the lane, to put herself in the lead and command of the race, and Slaney was simply holding her position on the inside. I do not see Slaney make some redoubled effort to speed up and clip Budd. She maintains her pace, is looking straight ahead the whole time, trips a first time, then regains her original momentum, and is only at fault for not rolling out the red carpet for Zola on that inside lane, which she of course should never have to do in the first place.

The accident was unintentional, but that does not mean no one is at fault. Next time you move slightly out of your lane in the highway and bump someone that is in your blind spot with the trunk of your car because you were not paying attention, be sure to tell them that "$%*@ happens" and that they "rear-ended" you. See how that ends up working out for you.

Slaney had a momentary lapse into graciousness, blamed her lack of pack running, and made that quote. Athletes have to tell themselves that after such an experience. They need to believe that there is some element of training that they can control and work on, which will eliminate the problem in the future. It gets you back on the horse, because the idea that you have suffered and sacrificed for a very long time, only to have your dream dashed by some freak accident, is infuriating and creates a sense of helplessness.

Her coach should, on the other hand, have raised holy hell after the race. I know I would have if it were one of the athletes I work with, having worked their entire life for the opportunity to compete on that stage, only to be tripped up by someone else making an effort to establish position while not paying attention to her space and the other competitors around her.

I think all of this is irrelevant. It's been years since the tripping (allegedly) happened.

I can understand those who were Mary Slaney rooters how frustrating it might have been..but as I recall back on Aug. 10/84, a commentator (Marty Liquori?) saying the END of the race declares who the winner is ON THE DAY..or something like that...

I'm just happy that Zola Budd/Piterse has taken steps to mount a comeback, and is running for the right reasons and from what I read of a link earlier on in this thread, maybe her life has sorted itself out?

I can hope.

She deserved far better than she got, other than being persecuted, hounded, etc. all because of political circumstances which she had nothing to to do with!!

So, maybe this thread wasn't quite so irelevant or a waste of time as I first said.

victoria, b.c., canada, runner wrote:

She deserved far better than she got, other than being persecuted, hounded, etc. all because of political circumstances which she had nothing to to do with!!

It so happens that I spoke with Zola about a month ago. She is a wonderful, warm, person, and seems to be doing just fine. I did not bring up this race or other long past challenges.

You said it very well RRRR and in much more detail than I have. I guess at this point, no matter how much logic you put into the argument, people are seeing what they want to see. I really am baffled as to what people are seeing, especially since most of us on here follow track and field. I asked my wife(who does not follow track very much) who was at fault, and she immediately said Zola. I had her watch it a couple of times and she still said Zola. I then asked my son, who runs high school track, and he also said Zola. Still not sure what people are seeing. Read RRRR's description and if that doesn't convince you, nothing will.

Mary Slaney wrote:

“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.

A very candid explanation from MDS taking full responsibility for her own actions.

Very refreshing. Thank you for the link.

What Mary should have done was just gently nudge Zola out a little bit toward lane 2. Zola probably wasn't aware she was crowding her. But, as has already been pointed out, neither were experienced running in crowds, just running out front.

Both women were front runners and had never had reason to run in a pack.

Well that ought to wrap this up.

Nonetheless what I remember is thinking about a lap before Slaney tripped that there was going to be something bad happening. She was running right up on her and Budd had a high back kick. I ran the same way and used to cut in to grab the inside all the time and either catch somebodies stride with my back kick or get pushed really hard on the back.

Budd however wasn't trying to get the inside. But so what nobody wanted to pass her and take the lead and shit happens. Not her fault at all. All Mary's and good to read that she admits it.

free beer wrote:

Well that ought to wrap this up.

Nonetheless what I remember is thinking about a lap before Slaney tripped that there was going to be something bad happening. She was running right up on her and Budd had a high back kick. I ran the same way and used to cut in to grab the inside all the time and either catch somebodies stride with my back kick or get pushed really hard on the back.

Budd however wasn't trying to get the inside. But so what nobody wanted to pass her and take the lead and shit happens. Not her fault at all. All Mary's and good to read that she admits it.

Since Zola didn't pass her until less than a half lap before the incident, I am not sure what you are talking about in regards to a lap before. Shows you didn't really watch the tape, or are really clueless.

Also, for those of you who are using Mary's quote to say she admitted Zola did nothing wrong, please think clearly. First of all, she talks about how people think Zola did it deliberately, indicating that she does think Zola tripped her, but not deliberately. Also, just because she says it was her inexperience that caused her to fall, it doesn't mean she is admitting that Zola did nothing wrong. As we all can see from the tape, Zola drifted in to lane one when she didn't have enough clearance (well most of us that don't have a bias can see)and because of Mary's inexperience she ended up falling. It doesn't mean Zola wasn't at fault. Absolutely a more experienced runner may have been able to avoid falling from Zola's infraction, but Mary wasn't able to, due to her inexperience, which she admits.

Please, please, please, people get a clue. Watch the race. Look up track rules. Watch the race again. Refresh yourself on track rules. Watch it again. Maybe you will see it.

Mary's tactical mistake was allowing Zola to draw ever so slightly ahead of her. Once Zola was ahead of her, she had no obligation by the rules of track to provide more room for Mary to come through on the inside.

Astro wrote:

Please, please, please, people get a clue. Watch the race. Look up track rules. Watch the race again. Refresh yourself on track rules. Watch it again. Maybe you will see it.

OK, Did all you ask and I still don't see it. Guess your wrong and I'm right. I asked my wife, who runs track, and my daughter (who doesn't ) and they both say Mary caused the problem.

la la land wrote:

Mary's tactical mistake was allowing Zola to draw ever so slightly ahead of her. Once Zola was ahead of her, she had no obligation by the rules of track to provide more room for Mary to come through on the inside.

That is not what was happening. Zola did draw ever so slightly ahead of her, drifted into lane one and Mary tripped. She wasn't trying to pass her on the inside. Where did you get that from? Mary was maintaining her pace or slightly picking it up as she sensed Zola passing her. Zola probably didn't realize Mary had picked it up slightly and therefore did not have the room to move over. Again it was both of their inexperience that caused the fall, but only one person broke a rule. Zola.

I honestly think it would be a good psychology experiment to have people watch the race that didn't see the interview and knew nothing about Mary or Zola and then have people watch it who saw the interview. I am pretty confident that most of those that didn't see the interview would fault Zola and those that saw the interview would mostly fault Mary. It is human nature to favor the more likeable person, which is Zola by far. That is what is going on here, or at least the only logical explanation, since the evidence is pretty clear if you watch the race.

Ok I'll watch it again. My recollection was having a premonition that this was going to happen before it did. So I guess it wasn't a lap before.

So what are the rules then regarding someone falling after running right up someones butt for 100 meters and clipping their foot/arm/leg with their own stride? You must have the rulebook right in front of you.

Astro;

We all have a clue and can obviously see better than you - please get your eyes checked ASAP, you're obviously seeing things, and get your mind checked as well since your perspective seems to border on paranoia. We all know the track rules just as well as do you. Perhaps people would take your opinion more seriously if you didn't talk down to them!

It was an accident - they both are culpable (but not for disqualification), yet Mary was the one in the position who needed to be careful, she wasn't and so she suffered the consequences. It's ancient history, why does this topic resurface so often? Nothing is going to change the outcome!

Astro said: I asked my wife(who does not follow track very much) who was at fault, and she immediately said Zola. I had her watch it a couple of times and she still said Zola. I then asked my son, who runs high school track, and he also said Zola.

Following Ben There's lead, i asked my GF (who doesn't follow track) and she said Mary. I don't have kids, so i asked my left nut (who doesn't run track) and he also said Mary. Although he's been somewhat anti-American since he was caught in the zipper of some 501's back in '97. Since then he's always been a little teste.

Whereas you're just a dick.