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INDIANAPOLIS
- Mary Decker Slaney winning gold medals in the women's
1,500m and 3,000 meters at the 1983 World Outdoor
Championships was
honored by USA Track & Field
as the 12th greatest moment in U.S. track and
field history in the last 25 years.
A member of
the National Track & Field Hall of Fame, Slaney's greatest
international achievement came at the 1983 World Outdoor
Championships in Helsinki, where she won the 1,500 and 3,000
meters -- a feat that helped earn her the title of Sports
Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year for 1983.
Known at that
time as Mary Decker, she won the 1,500m in a titanic battle
with Russia's Zamira Zaytseva that wasn't settled until the
final 10 meters, when Decker's smooth stride finally
overtook her rival. Decker won the race in 4 minutes, 00.90
seconds as the vanquished Zaytseva fell five meters from the
finish before rolling across the line in 4:01.19.
Decker
grabbed the early lead in the 3,000 meters and held on
throughout until two-time Olympic 1,500m champion Tatyana
Kazankina of the Soviet Union briefly wrested the lead from
her on the final straight. Decker responded by displaying a
strong kick of her own in retaking the lead and winning the
gold medal in 8:34.62.
A four-time
Olympic team qualifier, Mary Decker Slaney was inducted into
the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2003. The only
athlete ever to hold every American record from 800 meters
to 10,000 meters, she continues to own the U.S. women's
records in the 1,500m (3:57.12), mile (4:16.71) and 3,000m
(8:25.83).
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