Personally, I often pass definitive judgment on people based upon one interview that they conducted over 18 years ago. I am typically open-minded like that.
Budd is NOT American
Added Perspective wrote:
Personally, I often pass definitive judgment on people based upon one interview that they conducted over 18 years ago. I am typically open-minded like that.
Actually Mary Slaney has conducted herself terribly in public for her entire life. Everyone in Eugene knows it.
Those eight years were pretty rough on Slaney's looks. Nothing like a big dose of bile to wither the rose.
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.
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.
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.
Are you high? Slaney tried to pass on the inside and got caught, plain and simple. She's 100% at fault.
Rakanishu wrote:
Are you high? Slaney tried to pass on the inside and got caught, plain and simple. She's 100% at fault.
No, and no.
Budd is lucky that she didn't get spiked. If Mary had simply been more aggressive, she would have made it through. Instead, she tried to finesse her way through the opening. Budd's position was ridiculous. No experienced distance runner parks themselves in lane 1½ in a 3,000m race! You end up running quite a bit of extra yardage, and you're essentially asking to get elbowed by someone passing on the inside. Unfortunately, Mary was too polite with her tactics.
Budd did nothing illegal. She had established herself in front of Decker and when you are in the lead, you certainly have the right to slow down. When decker is in a position like that, early in a 3000m race, she has to hold her space or (if she wants to go faster) go out the back door.
She was unbelievably wrong in her assessment and very rude to Budd.
Is this a joke? What do you mean, "no experienced distance runner parks themselves in lane 1½ in a 3,000m race"? You can "park" yourself wherever you damned well please in any distance race, and unless you cut off or impede (with physical contact) another runner in the process, the passing runner is 100% responsible for any consequences of an ill-conceived charge. That is precisely what happened with Decker.
Added Perspective wrote:
Budd is lucky that she didn't get spiked. If Mary had simply been more aggressive, she would have made it through. Instead, she tried to finesse her way through the opening. Budd's position was ridiculous. No experienced distance runner parks themselves in lane 1½ in a 3,000m race! You end up running quite a bit of extra yardage, and you're essentially asking to get elbowed by someone passing on the inside. Unfortunately, Mary was too polite with her tactics.
I think you're the one who is inexperienced. Runners who are a hell of a lot more experienced (and more successful) than you will ever be run in the middle of lane one, or two.
Go to youtube and watch as many races as you can, if you want to get up to speed.
I think it was Decker who cost Budd a medal in LA. Decker had no class personally and maybe not physically either, wasn't she a convicted drug cheat banned for years after taking testosterone? (Maybe it's the male hormone that messed with her looks, where as Zola is as lovely as ever).
Decker is American
Watching the footage, I fail to see how anyone could hold Budd at fault for Slaney's falling down. It is incumbent upon the runner in the rear position to watch where they're going. The runner in front does not have eyes in the back of their head.
Had Budd egregiously cut Slaney off in an overly aggressive maneuver, I could see blaming Budd. This situation was nothing of that sort.
I remember how Budd was vilified after this race and painted as the evil, barefoot saboteur. Judging by the footage, Slaney had only herself to blame. Tough break, but that's the way it goes. Don't point fingers at someone else!
Ok, having watched the footage again, I see that perhaps it is not a black-and-white situation. There is room for interpretation, hence the controversy.
However, on the balance, I'd say it is run-of-the-mill race dynamics and Slaney is responsible for her fall. There is nothing illegal or especially devious about not observing impeccable race manners and perhaps getting slightly in the way of an opponent. While it may be annoying, it happens in every race and it's unfair to launch a public verbal attack on someone for doing it.
First this is a great thread and link. Imagine arguing over a race that happenned about 27 years ago. Most posters here weren't born.
I remember this well and in viewing the tape I don't feel that Zola could be DQ'd or did anything wrong. Mary made a decision to pass in a risky inside position. Zola did have an awkward foot swing and did slow up which contributed to the accident, but Mary made the risky decision to pass on the inside.
I found nothing wrong with Mary's interview. She was honest and expressed her point respectfully. Zola was actually to me more annoying in being so evasive and presenting herself as deserving of sympathy. The interviewer obviously was the true bitch who wanted to stir things up.
Great piece of film. One could look at this and see that Budd would just like to hear Mary say "it's history, forgive and forget on both sides", etc and Decker comes out with the same drivel she had been spouting for 8 years. Decker was and is a bitter old woman who turned to drugs to get that feeling of superiority back. It's a shame.
It would be interesting to see if someone has the article from 83 or early 84 where Decker talks about Budd and how she (Budd) has to learn to be more aggressive if she's going to compete with the European runners. There's a lot of pushing and shoving over there and I don't think she's up to it, was the gist of the article. Interesting because I believe to this day that Decker went into that race with the attitude that she would teach this young upstart a lesson. Why? Because Mary was the golden girl the 14 year old who had the world track and field crowd on their feet. who does this barefoot young foreigner think she is?
Bet that interviewer uses about two cans of hairspay a day
Decker Slaney would not have won gold that day in any case. No one was going to beat Puica. Whether or not Puica was clean is another matter.
Those who think Decker Slaney should have been more "aggressive" in getting past Budd should remember how early in the race this incident was, and how many other options Mary had. In a race at Madison Square Garden when she was well in the clear and winning, she had actually run up the back and made contact with a slower runner she was lapping. It was contact she could easily avoid; it pretty much shocked the crowd. That's who she was.