Mary Decker

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mary Decker
Middle distance running
Event800–5000 m
ClubAthletics West, Eugene[1]
Retired1999
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)800 m: 1:56.90 (1985)
1500 m: 3:57.12 (1983)
Mile: 4:16.71 (1985)
3000 m: 8:25.83 (1985)
5000 m: 15:06.53 (1985)
10,000 m: 31:35.3 (1982)[2]
Medal record
Representing  United States
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1983 Helsinki 1500 m
Gold medal – first place 1983 Helsinki 3000 m
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1979 San Juan 1500 m

Mary Teresa Slaney (formerly Tabb,

U.S. national records at distances ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters, and has held the U.S. record in the 2000 meters and 3000 meters since the early 1980s, while her 1500 meters record stood for 32 years and her mile record stood for 38 years. In 2003, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.[3]

Early life

Decker was born in Bunnvale, New Jersey. A decade later, her family moved to Garden Grove in Southern California, where Decker started running. A year later at the age of 11, she won her first local competition.[citation needed]

She joined her school athletics club and a local track club and completely immersed herself in running. At age 12, she completed a marathon and four middle- and long-distance races in one week, ending the week with an appendectomy operation.[citation needed]

Career

In her early teens, Decker was already recognized as a world-class runner. Unable to attend the 1972 Olympics as she was too young at 14, Decker, who ran wearing pigtails and at the weight of 89 lb (40 kg), won international acclaim in 1973 with a win in the 800 meters at a U.S.-USSR meet in Minsk, beating the reigning Olympic silver medalist Nijolė Sabaitė.[citation needed]

By the end of 1972, Decker was ranked first in the United States and fourth in the world in the 800 meters.[citation needed] In 1973, she set her first world record, running an indoor mile in 4:40.1. By 1974, Decker was the world indoor record holder with 2:02.4 for 880 yards, and 2:01.8 for 800 meters.

By the end of 1974, Decker had developed a case of the muscle condition

University of Colorado at Boulder on a track scholarship.[4][5] In 1979, she became the second American woman (the first was Francie Larrieu) to break the 4:30 mile.[6] Decker was the first woman to break the 4:20 barrier for the mile in 1980 when she ran it in 4:17.55. However, this time was never ratified by the IAAF.[citation needed] Decker did not compete at the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics because of the American boycott. However, she received one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the American athletes.[7]

In 1981, Decker married fellow American distance runner Ron Tabb. The couple divorced in 1983.[8] In 1982, under the name Mary Tabb, she ran the mile in 4:18.08, breaking the official record of 4:20.89 by the Lyudmila Veselkova of the USSR, and this time was ratified.

Career peak

In 1982 Decker-Tabb set six world records at distances ranging from the mile run to 10,000 meters. She received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.

The following year she achieved the "Double Decker,"

USA Track and Field and Sports Illustrated magazine named her Sportsperson of the Year.[1] Shortly before her World Championship victories, Decker improved her U.S. 1500 meters record to 3:57.12 in Stockholm on July 26, 1983. This record stood for 32 years until Shannon Rowbury
ran 3:56.29 on July 17, 2015.

The 1984 Olympic incident

Decker leading the 3000 m final at the 1984 Olympics, with Zola Budd and Wendy Sly to her right, and Maricica Puică just behind to her left

Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the

IAAF.[10]

Decker and Budd next met in July 1985 for a 3000-meter race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the women shook hands and reconciled. Decker later claimed that she was robbed of the 1984 Olympics 3000-meter gold medal by Budd, but many years after the event said: "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."[11] Budd and Decker later reunited for a 2016 documentary about the incident, The Fall.[12]

Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning 12-mile and 3000-meter races in Europe, including a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984 was not ratified by the IAAF), a race in which she beat both Budd and Puică. Since that race in 1985, Decker's time has only been bettered four times.[13]

Decker at the 1988 Olympic trials

Decker missed the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986) and then missed the 1987 season because of injury. She qualified for the

Seoul, South Korea, competing at 1500 meters and 3000 meters, but finished in 8th and 10th respectively, failing to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Summer Olympics
.

Doping controversy

In 1996, at the age of 37, as she qualified for the 5000 meters at the Atlanta Olympics, a urine test taken in June at the Olympic trials showed a testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E) ratio greater than the allowable maximum of 6:1.[14] At the time of the positive test, Decker was being coached by Alberto Salazar.[15]

Decker and her lawyers contended that the T/E ratio test is unreliable for women, especially women in their late 30s or older who take birth-control pills. In the meantime, Decker was eliminated in the heats at the Olympics.[4]

In June 1997, the

IAAF banned Decker from competition. In September 1999, a USATF panel reinstated her.[16][17] The IAAF cleared her to compete but took the case to arbitration. In April 1999, the arbitration panel ruled against Decker, and although she was cleared to compete, the IAAF instituted a retroactive ban that stripped her of the silver medal that she had won in the 1500-meter race at the 1997 World Indoor Championships.[18][19]

In April 1999, Decker filed suit against both the IAAF and the

U.S. Olympic Committee that had administered the test, arguing that the test is flawed and cannot distinguish between androgens caused by the use of banned substances and those resulting from the use of birth-control pills.[20] The court ruled that it had no jurisdiction, and the decision was upheld on appeal.[21]

The T/E test threshold has since been tightened to a 4:1 ratio, and laboratories now also run a carbon isotope ratio test (CIR) if the T/E ratio is unusually high.[22]

Later life

Throughout her later career, Decker had suffered a series of stress-induced fractures. After the loss of her 1999 legal case, she underwent more than 30

orthopedic procedures, mainly on her legs and feet, in an attempt to enable her to run competitively in marathons. However, after the surgeries, she continued to experience injuries. As a result, she retired with her husband to a 55-acre (22 ha) property in Eugene, Oregon, where she jogs every other day.[23]

International competitions

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  United States
1979 Pan American Games San Juan, Puerto Rico 1st 1500 m 4:05.7
1983 World Championships Helsinki, Finland 1st 1500 m 4:00.90
1st 3000 m 8:34.62
1984 Olympic Games Los Angeles, United States DNF 3000 m 8:44.32 (heat)
1985 Grand Prix Final Rome, Italy 1st 3000 m 8:46.38
1988 Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea 8th 1500 m 4:02.49
10th 3000 m 8:47.13
1991 Grand Prix Final Barcelona, Spain 2nd Mile 4:28.35
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 21st (h) 5000 m 15:41.30
1997 World Indoor Championships Paris, France DQ (2nd) 1500 m 4:05.22
(h) Indicates overall position in qualifying heats. DNF = did not finish. DQ = disqualified.

See also

  • List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

References

  1. ^ a b c d Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Mary Decker-Slaney". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020.
  2. ^ Mary Slaney at World Athletics Edit this at Wikidata
  3. ^ Mary Slaney (Decker) at USA Track & Field Hall of Fame
  4. ^ a b MacDonald, Jamie (November 29, 1999). "Mary Decker Slaney, Track and Field". Sports Illustrated for Women. CNNsi.com. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
  5. ^ Taylor, Susan Champli (September 29, 1986). "Mary Decker Takes a Run at Happiness with Husband Richard Slaney". Retrieved June 13, 2010.
  6. ^ Chronological Listing of U.S. Women Who Have Broken 4:30 in the Mile as of May 5, 2013[permanent dead link]. bringbackthemile.com
  7. .
  8. ^ "Mary Decker Takes a Run at Happiness with Husband Richard Slaney". PEOPLE.com. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  9. ^ "Covers". CNN.
  10. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Athletics at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Women's 3,000 metres". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
  11. ^ Parker-Pope, Tara (August 1, 2008). "An Olympic Blast From the Past". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  12. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (July 21, 2016). "The Fall review – Mary Decker and Zola Budd reunite for dramatic finale". The Guardian. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  13. ^ One Mile – women – senior – outdoor. iaaf.org. Retrieved on October 9, 2016.
  14. ^ Litsky, Frank (April 14, 1999). "TRACK AND FIELD; Slaney Suing the I.A.A.F. In Dispute Over a Drug Test". The New York Times. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
  15. ^ LONGMAN, JERE (May 1, 1996). "TRACK AND FIELD; Slaney Tries New Approach to Olympic Quest". The New York Times. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
  16. ^ "Athletes Unretiring: The Comeback Kids". Business Week. Archived from the original on October 17, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
  17. ^ "Runner still feels regret over 1984 Olympics wipeout". Taipei Times. Reuters. July 25, 2009. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
  18. ^ Rowbottom, Mike (April 27, 1999). "Athletics: Slaney doping ban upheld at IAAF hearing". The Independent. London. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
  19. IAAF
    , pp. 47–48, retrieved September 27, 2015
  20. .
  21. ^ "Mary Decker Slaney, Plaintiff-appellant, v. the International Amateur Athletic Federation and the United States Olympic Committee, Defendants-appellees, 244 F.3d 580 (7th Cir. 2001)". Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  22. ^ Cotton, Simon (March 1, 2010). "Five rings good, four rings bad". Education in Chemistry. Vol. 47, no. 3. Royal Society of Chemistry. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  23. ^ Gene Cherry (July 28, 2009). "Mary Slaney still yearns to run". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 27, 2010.

External links

Records
Preceded by Women's mile world record holder
26 January 1980 – 12 September 1981
9 July 1982 – 9 September 1982
21 August 1985 – 10 July 1989
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Lyudmila Veselkova
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Maricica Puică
Succeeded by
Awards and achievements
Preceded by United Press International
Athlete of the Year

1985
Succeeded by
Sporting positions
Preceded by Women's 5.000m Best Year Performance
1982
Succeeded by
Preceded by Women's 3.000m Best Year Performance
1985
Succeeded by