THE FALL GUY
RIO OLYMPICS Mary: Coach decked me for that infamous race in ’84 – not Zola 7 DAYS TO GO
MARY DECKER SLANEY wonders how she might have been remembered – if only she’d ignored her coach’s advice in the 3000m final at the 1984 Olympics.
The 26-year-old American was the reigning world champion. But five minutes into the race came the collision that defines her career.
Approaching the four-and-a-half lap mark – and barely a stride apart – Decker Slaney went sprawling behind barefoot leader Zola Budd to crush her hopes of Los Angeles gold.
It was another agonising blow for Decker Slaney, who had missed out on the 1980 Olympics in Moscow due to the US boycott.
And before the race was over Budd became a target for furious American crowds that deemed her the guilty party.
But after 32 years not only has the pain dulled for Decker Slaney so has the animosity between her and Budd – now friends.
The American believes she should have taken the race into her own hands and run at the front even if it meant going against her coach Dick Brown.
Now 57, Decker Slaney said: “Running behind someone is not what I was used to. I should have ignored him.
“He said the same thing at the World Championships in 1983 but I didn’t listen. I wish I hadn’t listened in 1984 but there’s no hard feelings towards him.”
The South Africa-born Budd, 18, was already a target for protests after being controversially fasttracked to British citizenship during the apartheid era.
She said: “For me to carry the burden and the guilt, it was unfair.”
In the collision Budd was spiked but carried on. Then, close to tears, the teenager deliberately slowed down so she wouldn’t win a medal.
Budd added: “Every race I went to there were people booing, spitting, shouting. It was just one race too many.”
● The Fall is on Sky Atlantic tonight at 9pm. USAIN BOLT arrived in Rio saying he can handle whatever rival Justin Gatlin throws at him.
The US star is the fastest man over 100 metres for a third year having won most races in that period.
But he couldn’t stand the heat in last year’s World 100m clash with Bolt who won in Beijing by 0.01 seconds.
The Jamaican, who clocked 19.89 in his first 200m of 2016 in London last Friday, said: “This year will be different. I’m in better shape so I won’t leave it to the last second. I’m tough mentally and I’m looking forward to putting on a show for the entire world to see.”
Gatlin, whose season’s best of 9.8 is 0.08 quicker than Bolt has hit this year, competes despite his two convictions for doping.
He says his son Jace, 6, is his motivation.
Gatlin said: “Before races my son says, ‘Daddy, you’ve got to win’. I try to move mountains for him.”