The Tragedy Everyone Remembers

Mary Decker Slaney deserved better than to have her running career defined by a fall, even if it was maybe the most memorable tumble in sports history.

She deserved better than to stumble from grace.

But fate intervened, the greatest middle-distance runner in U.S. women's track and field history collided with Zola Budd at the Coliseum in 1984 and an indelible Olympic moment was embedded in the public consciousness.

"A living nightmare," America's former running sweetheart later called the split-second entanglement that knocked her from the 3,000-meter final.

Nearly a quarter-century later, dyed-in-the-wool U.S. track nuts probably couldn't name all the track and field gold medalists from the Los Angeles Games, Slaney says, but even little old ladies still recognize the woman who tripped. "Oh, yeah," Slaney says they tell her, "you were the one that fell over."

Mary Decker Slaney, the only runner, male or female, to set U.S. records at every distance from 800 meters to 10,000 meters: "I think it's flattering that people still remember."

Married since January 1985 to Richard Slaney, a British Olympic discus thrower who carried her from the Coliseum infield Aug. 10, 1984, the former Mary Decker is happily ensconced in Eugene, Ore., and refreshingly resigned to her unfortunate place in Olympic history. The Slaneys, whose daughter Ashley Lynn graduated last month from UC San Diego, share a 55-acre spread on the edge of town with three Weimaraners -- Cleo, Athena and Ranger -- and five cats.

"I garden," Slaney says of her No. 1 chore and favorite activity. "We have a lot of property and we take care of it mostly ourselves, so that's what I spend a lot of time doing, which I love because I'm outside."