Mary Decker

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Mary Decker athletics

Mary Decker

nation United StatesUnited States United States
birthday 4th August 1958
place of birth Flemington
size 168 cm
Weight 51 kg
Career
discipline Middle distance run
Best performance 3: 57.12 min ( 1500 m )
8: 25.83 min ( 3000 m )
status resigned
Medal table
World championships 2 × gold 0 × silver 0 × bronze
Pan American Games 1 × gold 0 × silver 0 × bronze
IAAF logo World championships
gold Helsinki 1983 1500 m
gold Helsinki 1983 3000 m
Pan American Games logo Pan American Games
gold San Juan 1979 1500 m

Mary Decker ( Mary Teresa Decker, Tabb for a short time , Slaney from 1985 ; born August 4, 1958 in Flemington , New Jersey ) is a former American athlete who, both after the length of her career and after the successes, is one of the best Middle and long-distance runners really count.

Mary Decker was already known as Little Mary Decker at the age of 14 . In 1981 she married the American marathon runner Ron Tabb, from whom she soon separated. On January 1, 1985, she married the British discus thrower Richard Slaney and started as Mary Slaney from then on. Mary and Richard Slaney have a daughter. Mary Slaney is 1.68 m tall and weighed 51 kg at the time of her greatest achievements.

Career

Youth (until 1977)

Mary Decker ran a marathon for the first time at the age of 12 , which she completed in 3:09:27 h. When Mary Decker competed in the 1973 indoor international competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in the mile run , at 14 years and 224 days she was the youngest American woman who had ever represented the USA in an international competition. In the summer of 1973, she won the 800-meter run in the open-air competition against the Soviet Union . In the 1974 indoor season she ran a world best over 880 yards. From 1975 to 1977, Mary Decker did not take part because she was constantly suffering from injuries.

World class (1978–1985)

In 1978 Mary Decker started again and immediately achieved times of less than 4:10 minutes in the 1500 meter run . In 1979 she won this distance at the Pan American Games. In 1980 she won the US Trials for the Olympic Games in Moscow , in which she was not allowed to participate because of the Olympic boycott . Also in 1980 she set her first world mile record. After she failed again in 1981 due to injury, she set world records in the 5000 and 10,000 meter runs in 1982, now starting as Mary Tabb .

At the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki these two distances were not on the program. Now she competed again as Mary Decker in the 1,500 and 3,000 meter run . On August 10th she won the final over 3000 meters in 8: 34.62 minutes ahead of West German Brigitte Kraus and Russian Tatjana Kasankina . The first six runners stayed under 8:38 minutes. Two days later, Mary Decker was best in the 1500 meters. In the final on August 14th , she was able to keep the three representatives of the Soviet Union in check in 4.00.90 minutes. In recognition of their two world titles Decker was by the magazine Sports Illustrated for sportsman of the year 1983 chosen. A year earlier, she was honored with the Associated Press Athlete of the Year award .

The blonde darling of the American media was automatically the favorite for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles . She confidently won the trials in the 3,000 meter run . After all countries of the Eastern bloc boycotted the games except Romania, the South African Zola Budd , who competed for Great Britain, was her main competitor. In the first run, Mary Decker set an Olympic record with 8: 44.38 minutes, which was undercut by the Romanian Maricica Puică in the third run . In the final, Mary Decker and Zola Budd battled for the top, with Decker falling after bumping into Budd's heel. Puică won the race in a time of 8: 35.96 minutes ahead of British rider Wendy Sly . Decker felt cheated of gold, and the American media had its story.

It wasn't until 1985 that Mary Decker started again, but from now on as Mary Slaney. She set her third world mile record and could not be beaten in fourteen races in the outdoor season. She won the Athletics Grand Prix in 1985 in front of the high jumper Stefka Kostadinova .

Late career (from 1987)

A daughter was born on May 30, 1986. Although the mother took part in a few races at the end of the season, she was out of the 1987 season due to injuries. At the US Trials for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul , Mary Slaney won both 1500 and 3000 meters. She reached the final over both distances, but 8th place over 1500 meters in 4: 02.49 min and 10th place over 3000 meters in 8: 47.13 min did not match what she had imagined.

The following years were mostly marked by injuries. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta she was at the start again, but was eliminated in the run-up to the 5000 meters. At the indoor world championships in 1997 she suddenly presented herself in top form again and finished second in 4: 05.22 minutes, only three hundredths of a second behind Russian Jelena Podkopajewa .

Mary Decker had already tested positive in a doping test at the US trials for the 1996 Olympic Games . The ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone exceeded the established maximum values. This result was announced in the summer of 1997. A long litigation developed in which Mary Slaney presented the high value as a natural consequence of her age and the use of contraceptives. The US federation supported Mary Slaney, while the world federation insisted on a ban. In the summer of 1999, an IAAF arbitration tribunal ruled that Mary Slaney should be banned retrospectively from June 1996 and dismissed her 1997 silver medal. Mary Slaney tried to challenge this decision in the ordinary courts, but the courts ultimately declared themselves inconsistent.

Personal best

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Doping: Mary Decker-Slaney: Medal revoked , Spiegel Online April 26, 1999
personal data
SURNAME Decker, Mary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Decker, Mary Teresa; Tabb, Mary; Slaney, Mary
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American athlete
DATE OF BIRTH 4th August 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Flemington, New Jersey