Decker, Mary T.
(Mrs. Tabb; Mrs. Slaney)
Track and field
b. Aug. 4, 1958, Bunnvale, NJ
Shortly after her family moved to California when she was eleven years old, Decker discovered running. At twelve, she ran a 440, an 880, a mile, a 2-mile, and a marathon in a single week, just before having an emergency appendectomy.
She won international attention in 1973 with a surprise victory in the 800-meter at a U. S.-U. S. S. R. dual meet in Minsk. Within a year, Decker held world records of 2:26.7 for 1,000 meters, 2:02.4 for 880 yards, and 2:01.8 for 800 meters.
Only 4-foot-10 and 86 pounds, the fifteen-year-old, inevitably known as "Little Mary Decker," was a great favorite with fans and media alike. But a long string of physical problems began to hamper her in late 1974 and eventually kept her from running competitively for the greater part of three years.
A sudden growth spurt of 6 inches and 25 pounds caused the most serious problem, compartment syndrome, in which the calf muscles grow too large for the sheath that contains them. Decker had an operation to cure that in 1977 and early the following year she broke her own 1,000-yard record with a 2:23.8 clocking.
After a bout with tendinitis, she set three world records in 1980, running 4:21.7 in the mile, 4:08.0 in the indoor 1,500-meter, and 1:59.7 in the 880-yard run. A sprained tendon then sidelined her for more than two months, but she came back to set an American record of 8:38.73 for the 3,000 meters in her first attempt at that distance.
Decker then tore an Achilles tendon, underwent two operations, and didn't return to form until 1982, her greatest single year. During the indoor season, she set world records in the mile, 2,000 meters, and 3,000 meters, then moved to longer distances outdoors. In June, she ran 5,000 meters in a world record 15:08.26. Then she went to Europe, won all five races she entered, and set another world record of 4:18.08 in the mile.
Late in the summer, Decker tried the 10,000-meter run for the first time and ran an extraordinary 31:35.23, setting a new world record and breaking the former U. S. record by 42 seconds. She was named female athlete of the year by the Associated Press and she also won the Sullivan Award as the nation's outstanding amateur athlete.
Decker won the 1,500- and 3,000-meter runs at the first world championships in 1983 and qualified for both events at the 1984 Olympic trials. However, she decided to concentrate on the 3,000-meter. In the Olympic finals, she got tangled up with Zola Budd, a South African native who was running for Great Britain. Decker tripped, fell onto the infield, and injured her hip.
Putting her injury and disappointment behind, Decker set two more world records in 1985, a 5:34.2 in the indoor 2,000-meter and a 4:16.7 in the outdoor mile. She gave birth to a daughter in 1986, had a poor year in 1987, and finished a disappointing tenth in the 3,000-meter run at the 1988 Olympics. She then began pointing for the 1992 Games, but failed to qualify for the U. S. team.
Described by Frank Shorter as a "remarkable combination of form and strength," Decker is unquestionably the greatest runner who never won an Olympic medal. Even though her best performances came more than a decade ago, she still holds U. S. records for 800 meters, 1,500 meters, 1 mile, 2,000 meters, and 3,000 meters.