 Decker in 1982 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | Mary Teresa Decker (1958-08-04)August 4, 1958 (age 67) Bunnvale, New Jersey, U.S.[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 168 cm (5 ft 6 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 51 kg (112 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Middle distance running | ||||||||||||||||||||
Event | 800–5000 m | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Athletics West, Eugene[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personalbest(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
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Mary Teresa Slaney (formerlyTabb,néeDecker, born August 4, 1958) is an American retired middle-distance and long-distance runner. During her career, she won gold medals in the1500 meters and3000 meters at the1983 World Championships and was the world-record holder in themile,5000 meters and10,000 meters. In total, she set 17 official and unofficialworld records, and she was the first woman to break 4:20 forthe mile. She also set 36U.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 theNational Track and Field Hall of Fame.[3] She was retroactively banned for two years from June 1996 for a doping violation for a high testosterone to epitestosterone ratio.
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 conditioncompartment syndrome. This resulted in a series of injuries that prevented her from competing in the1976 Summer Olympics because ofstress fractures in her lower leg. After recovering from surgery, she spent two seasons at theUniversity of Colorado at Boulder on a track scholarship.[4][5] In 1979, she became the second American woman (the first wasFrancie 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. Decker did not compete at the1980 Moscow Summer Olympics because of theAmerican boycott. However, she received one of 461Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the American athletes.[7]
In 1981, Decker married fellow American distance runnerRon 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 theLyudmila Veselkova of the USSR, and this time was ratified.
In 1982 Decker-Tabb set six world records at distances ranging from themile run to10,000 meters. She received theJames E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.
The following year she achieved the "Double Decker,"[9] winning both the1500 meters and3000 meters events at theWorld Championships inHelsinki, Finland. Her history of relatively easy wins in the United States left her tactical abilities suspect in Helsinki, as she chose not to run in close order because so few athletes could keep up with her, a situation that the Soviet runners hoped to use to their advantage. Her wins against Soviet World Record holders proved a redemption of her competitive guile. After her double win she won theJesse Owens Award fromUSA Track and Field andSports 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 untilShannon Rowbury ran 3:56.29 on July 17, 2015.
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the3000 meters run at the1984 Summer Olympics inLos Angeles. In the final, barefoot runnerZola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running even with Decker for three laps and then moved ahead. In an attempt to place pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. However, Decker collided with Budd and fell to the curb, injuring her hip, and she did not finish the race, which was won byMaricica Puică ofRomania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried from the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later husband), Britishdiscus throwerRichard Slaney. At a press conference, she pinned the blame for the collision on Budd. While it is generally the trailing runner's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader should be at least one full stride ahead before the trailing runner moves directly behind her. International track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later after officials viewed films of the race. Despite the fact that she had been running behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of sports journalists. The claim was not accepted by the director of the games or by theIAAF.[10]
Decker and Budd next met in July 1985 for a 3000-meter race atCrystal 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 officialworld 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 missed the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, and then missed the 1987 season because of injury. She qualified for the1988 Summer Olympics inSeoul, 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 the1992 Summer Olympics.
In 1996, at the age of 37, as she qualified for the5000 meters at theAtlanta Olympics, aurine test taken in June at the Olympic trials showed atestosterone toepitestosterone (T/E) ratio greater than the allowable maximum of 6:1.[14] At the time of the positive test, Decker was being coached byAlberto 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 takebirth-control pills. In the meantime, Decker was eliminated in the heats at the Olympics.[4]
In June 1997, theIAAF banned Decker from competition. In September 1999, a USATF panel reinstated her.[16][17] The IAAF cleared her to compete but took the case toarbitration. In April 1999, the arbitration panel ruled against Decker, and although she was cleared to compete, the IAAF instituted a retroactive ban of two years from June 17, 1996 that stripped her of the silver medal that she had won in the 1500-meter race at the1997 World Indoor Championships.[18][19]
In April 1999, Decker filed suit against both the IAAF and theU.S. Olympic Committee that had administered the test, arguing that the test is flawed and cannot distinguish betweenandrogens 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]
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 30orthopedic 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 inEugene, Oregon,[23][24] where shejogs every other day.[25]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | |
| (h) Indicates overall position in qualifying heats. DNF = did not finish. DQ = disqualified. | |||||
| 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 |
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| 3000 metres (1980–1993) |
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| 5000 metres (1995–present) |
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Note: In1995, the 3000 m was replaced by the 5000 m. | |
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