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DeckerVersus Budd

Human rights concerns especially centered on the country of South Africa and its policy of apartheid, which discriminated against its black citizens. This continued to be true as the 1984 Olympic Games approached, as South Africa had been expelled from the IOC officially in 1970. Athletes from South Africa had to find other means to compete. This was the case with Zola Budd, a South African distance runner who qualified to compete for Great Britain. Budd was considered a threat to American Mary Decker in the 3000 m (3,281 yard) event at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. Decker was the reigning world champion and the heavy favorite, expected to make up for previous Olympic disappointments. She missed the 1976 and 1980 Games due to injury and boycott, respectively. Her greatest disappointment came in the 1984 final, however, as she and Budd collided on the fourth lap, causing Decker to lose her balance and fall. The image of Decker in tears as her medal hopes evaporated is one of the most enduring from those games.

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