I miss Mary Slaney

No one else misses her.

The race was at altitude, with three of the top runners doubling back.

If people think that Alan Webb, German Fernandez and Ritz generate drama on these boards, they would be swamped completely out of contention by the Queen Of All Track Drama if she was contemporary.

What he said. Why is it that so many dufuses think a "slow" race is a boring race?

The women's 1500 in this country currently is much deeper than when Mary Slaney would go out in 61-2:07-and win in 4:25. She could do that because no one else could go with her.

More depth does make things more tactical. Mary never learned tactics because her competition was inferior and it ended up costing her in LA 1984.

Campell Street Pirate wrote:

The women's 1500 in this country currently is much deeper than when Mary Slaney would go out in 61-2:07-and win in 4:25. She could do that because no one else could go with her.

More depth does make things more tactical. Mary never learned tactics because her competition was inferior and it ended up costing her in LA 1984.

Tactics are bullshit. Like Pre said, if you run with guts you don't need tactics.

I remember running in Eugene on the Amazon trail at the tail end of Slaney's career. I was never a competitive runner but I was in pretty decent shape at the time and going at a decent clip. Suddenly Mary Slaney blew by me and my jaw just dropped. (And no I wasn't perving on her). It was just so smooth and effortless the way she was running. And it was only a jog for her. Total natural.

I read some years back a T&F coach who had seen all the great runners going back to the 60s. He said there were only two runners he had ever seen who were naturals at what they did: Henry Rono and Mary Slaney. That makes sense to me.

Say no to Tactics wrote:

Mary never learned tactics because her competition was inferior and it ended up costing her in LA 1984.

Isn't it funny how that wasn't really a problem during the tactical 1500m at Helsinki in 1983? Of course, she also didn't have an exceedingly inexperienced South African girl drifting into her lane in Helsinki, but I'm sure that must be a huge coincidence.

CU represent!

Little Mary Decker, the world record holder at age 15!

ryan foreman wrote:

I remember running in Eugene on the Amazon trail at the tail end of Slaney's career. I was never a competitive runner but I was in pretty decent shape at the time and going at a decent clip. Suddenly Mary Slaney blew by me and my jaw just dropped. (And no I wasn't perving on her). It was just so smooth and effortless the way she was running. And it was only a jog for her. Total natural.

I read some years back a T&F coach who had seen all the great runners going back to the 60s. He said there were only two runners he had ever seen who were naturals at what they did: Henry Rono and Mary Slaney. That makes sense to me.

Mary, love her or hate her, is likely the MOST talented American female middle distance/distance runner EVER. You can say she was difficult to like, difficult to get along with, she used drugs, etc., BUT she had the most talent of any American woman middle distance/distance.

She seems to have left the sport and found peace as a wife and mother. Good for her.

I love to hate MDS

history wrote:

Mary, love her or hate her, is likely the MOST talented American female middle distance/distance runner EVER. You can say she was difficult to like, difficult to get along with, she used drugs, etc., BUT she had the most talent of any American woman middle distance/distance.

She seems to have left the sport and found peace as a wife and mother. Good for her.

Agree. I never tire of watching her win the 1500 in Helsinki and hearing the British announcer call the race.

I miss her to! One of my favorite athletes of all time!

word i miss doing drugs and running fast too. i also miss athletes blaming others and making excuses why they didn't live up to their expectations. what a smut

That 1500 win in Helsinki was the greatest moment in U.S. middle distance running in the last 30 years. She led the whole way and dug down to get the win against the clearly doped Russians. If she was doped then (I don't think she was but maybe) it was a level playing field and she beat them.

There is a mountain of documented evidence against the Russians and East Germans with their doping from that era. When will USATF ever release the names of those who failed drug tests at the 1984 Olympic Trials they covered up? The East Germans came clean with it.

Yeah. There's never been such as sensation that has come onto the track the scene from anywhere in the US, as when Orange HS in L.A. produced Mary Decker. She was ALL THAT. The Babe of OC.

Clearly the MOST talented US runner period. She set 6 world records in ONE year.

I used to tape Sports illustrated Cover on my wall when I was a kid. Like wallpaper. From every sport. Mary Decker made 3 or 4 of those. She was one of the last mainstream American track stars.

Watch her double in Helsinki on you-tube. Historic and its 30 years ago but just imagine that ever happening again from an American middle distance runner.

Wow. I guess I'd never seen that race. That was awesome. For the record, I thought Slaney was the shit before I saw that race. Can you imagine Webb running with that kind of confidence? Dude would be lights out. Lights out.

Campell Street Pirate wrote:

That 1500 win in Helsinki was the greatest moment in U.S. middle distance running in the last 30 years.

And when you couple it with her victory in the 3000, it may have been the best performance by an American distance runner ever.

I was in England in 1983 for that inaugural WC. It was a huge deal in Europe and coverage was extensive. Remember, because of the Olympic boycotts in 76 and 80 this was the first competition in a long time where all the world's top athletes were present.

The media played up the competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Bloc (I believe East Germany won the most golds) and when Mary went head-to-head with the Russians and came out on top in both races it got a lot of attention.