Zola Budd
Encyclopedia
Zola Pieterse, better known by her maiden name of Zola Budd (born 26 May 1966 in Bloemfontein
, Orange Free State
, South Africa
), is a former Olympic track and field
competitor who, in less than three years, twice broke the world record in the women's 5000 metres
and twice was the women's winner at the World Cross Country Championships. Budd's career was unusual in that she mainly trained and raced barefoot
. Her achievements on the track were often overshadowed by the political controversy she aroused during her short stay in the United Kingdom
.
world record
with a time of 15:01.83. Since her performance took place in South Africa, then excluded from international athletics competition because of its apartheid policy, the International Amateur Athletic Federation
refused to ratify Budd's time as an official world record.
In 1985 she claimed the world record officially while representing Great Britain, clocking 14:48.07.
, a British tabloid
newspaper, persuaded Budd's father to encourage her to apply for British citizenship, on the grounds that her grandfather was British, to circumvent the international Sporting boycott of South Africa
so that she could compete in the 1984 Summer Olympics
in Los Angeles
. With a strong push from the Daily Mail, British citizenship was granted in short order and she moved to Guildford
. Her application and arrival was controversial due to the opposition of anti-apartheid campaigners.
Shortly afterwards Budd was forced to pull out of a 1,500 metre race in Crawley
, Sussex
when the town council withdrew their invitation at short notice. The race was part of the inaugural event for the town's new Bewbush Leisure Centre and Mayor Alf Pegler said members of the Council had expressed misgivings that the local significance of the event would be overshadowed by "political connotations and anti-apartheid demonstrators".
She ran her first competitive race on the cinder track at Central Park in Dartford
, Kent
, covering 3000 metres
in 9 mins. 2.6 seconds in a race shown live on the BBC
's Grandstand
programme. She ran in further races in Britain including the UK Championships 1,500m (won in 4m 4s) and the 3,000m in the UK Olympic trials which she won in 8 mins. 40 secs., earning a place on the British Olympic team. In the 2,000m at Crystal Palace in July 1984 she set a new world record of 5 mins. 33.15 secs. Commenting during the race for the BBC
, David Coleman
exclaimed, "The message will now be flashed around the world - Zola Budd is no myth."
Media billed the race as a duel between Budd and American world champion Mary Decker
, few reporting that a third contestant, Romanian Maricica Puică
, had set the fastest time that year.
Decker set a fast pace from the gun with Budd in close pursuit followed by Puică and Britain's Wendy Smith-Sly. When the pace slowed, just past the midway point, Budd took the lead on the straight and ran wide of the pack around the turn. Setting the pace she took herself, Decker, Smith-Sly and Puică clear of the pack. She seemed to assume control of the race coming out of the turn on the track at 1700 metres. Half a stride behind Budd, on the inside, Mary Decker
's right thigh contacted Budd's left foot, knocking Budd slightly off balance. Decker maintained her close position and again clipped Budd, striking the leader's calf with her right shoe as Budd moved towards the inside. A third collision followed and Decker stumbled and fell onto the infield. Her left hip injured, she was unable to resume the race.
Although Budd continued to lead for a while, she eventually finished 7th amid a resounding chorus of boos. Her finishing time of 8 m. 48 s. was well outside her best of 8 m. 37 s. Writing in her autobiography years later, Budd stated that she deliberately slowed down to take herself out of contention because she couldn't face collecting a medal in front of the hostile partisan crowd. Budd tried to apologize to Decker in the tunnel after the race, but Decker did not respond in the same spirit, and replied, “Don’t bother!” Puică took gold, with Sly in second, and Canada's Lynn Williams the bronze.
Although Budd was jeered by the crowd, an IAAF
jury found that she was not responsible for the collision. Decker said many years after the event “The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn’t the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack."
In general, it is the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead; whether or not Budd had sufficient control of the race to have pulled into the curve as she naturally did was hotly disputed. "This doesn't mean," track journalist Kenny Moore wrote in the aftermath, "that a leader can swerve in with impunity, but that in the give and take of pack running, athletes learn to make allowances." At first the US media sided with Decker, while the British press supported Budd.
In 2002 the moment was ranked 93rd in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.
) but then went on to several track defeats. The most significant of these was her rematch with Mary Decker-Slaney at Crystal Palace in July 1985 in which she finished fourth, some 13 seconds behind Decker-Slaney.
Budd's form improved significantly after this race, however, as she then went on to break the UK and Commonwealth records for the 1500 m (in 3:59.96), the mile (4:17.57), the 3000 m (8:28.83) and the 5000m (14:48.07). This last reduced the world record by ten seconds. She was also victor in the European Cup
3000 m. Her best times in the 1500 m, mile run
and 3000 m were set in races with Decker-Slaney and Maricica Puică
. Budd finished third in all three races, with Decker-Slaney and Puică consistently coming first and second respectively.
1986 began with a defence of her World Cross Country title and a world indoor 3000m record of 8 m. 39.79 s. However after a couple of victories in fast early season times over 1500m (4:01:93) and 3000m (8:34:72) her outdoor track season brought several defeats by athletes she should have beaten easily. She competed in both the 1500m and 3000m at the European Championships but did not win a medal in either, finishing 9th and 4th respectively. It later emerged that Budd was suffering a painful leg injury for much of the season: she did not compete in 1987 as she sought treatment for this.
In 1988 she began to compete again with a handful of cross-country runs. However several African nations claimed that she competed in an event in South Africa (Budd claimed she only attended the event and did not run) and insisted she be suspended from competition. The International Amateur Athletics Federation upheld this charge and suspended her, at which point Budd returned to South Africa
. She retired from international competition for several years, but returned in time to represent South Africa in the 1992 Summer Olympics
in Barcelona
, competing in the 3000m.
in Barcelona
but did not qualify for the final. In 1993 she finished fourth at the World Cross Country championships but would never translate this form onto the track.
Budd remains the holder of numerous British and South African records at junior and senior levels and still holds two junior world records; the mile and the 3000 metres.
In April 2006 Budd filed for divorce after her husband allegedly moved in with a semi-finalist in the Mrs. United Nations
South Africa beauty pageant. The couple later reconciled.
Budd and her family have been living in Myrtle Beach
, South Carolina, USA since August 2008. She has a two-year visa that allows her to compete on the US masters' circuit, is a volunteer coach at Coastal Carolina University
Chanticleer
s track team and has raced in the South Carolina division of USA Track and Field, winning the women's division of the Dasani Half-Marathon during Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon on 14 February 2009 with a time of 1:20:41.
Budd's children also compete: at the 2 May Orangeburg (SC) Festival of Roses road race, after winning the women's 12 km. event, she watched her daughter Lisa (13) win the girls 5 km. 12-19 age group at 30:17, followed by her niece Claudia (17) at 31:36.
(whom Time Magazine called "the Madonna
of the townships" in 2001) had a hit single in the 1980s with her track "Zola Budd".
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
, Orange Free State
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
), is a former Olympic track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
competitor who, in less than three years, twice broke the world record in the women's 5000 metres
5000 metres
The 5000 metres is a popular running distance also known as 5 km or 5K in American English. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "5000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "5K" usually refers to a roadrace or cross country event...
and twice was the women's winner at the World Cross Country Championships. Budd's career was unusual in that she mainly trained and raced barefoot
Barefoot running
Barefoot running is running while barefoot—without wearing any shoes on the feet. Running in thin-soled, flexible shoes, often called minimalist running, such as moccasins is biomechanically related to running barefoot, but alters sensory feedback from the plantar mechanoreceptors...
. Her achievements on the track were often overshadowed by the political controversy she aroused during her short stay in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Women's 5000 metres world record
Budd achieved fame in 1984, at the age of 17, when she broke the women's 5000 metres5000 metres
The 5000 metres is a popular running distance also known as 5 km or 5K in American English. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "5000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "5K" usually refers to a roadrace or cross country event...
world record
World record
A world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...
with a time of 15:01.83. Since her performance took place in South Africa, then excluded from international athletics competition because of its apartheid policy, the International Amateur Athletic Federation
International Association of Athletics Federations
The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded in 1912 at its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation...
refused to ratify Budd's time as an official world record.
In 1985 she claimed the world record officially while representing Great Britain, clocking 14:48.07.
Arrival in Britain
The Daily MailDaily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, a British tabloid
Tabloid journalism
Tabloid journalism tends to emphasize topics such as sensational crime stories, astrology, gossip columns about the personal lives of celebrities and sports stars, and junk food news...
newspaper, persuaded Budd's father to encourage her to apply for British citizenship, on the grounds that her grandfather was British, to circumvent the international Sporting boycott of South Africa
Sporting boycott of South Africa
South Africa under apartheid was subjected to a variety of international boycotts, including on sporting contacts. There was some debate about whether the aim of the boycott was to end segregation in sport or to end apartheid altogether.-United Nations:...
so that she could compete in the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. With a strong push from the Daily Mail, British citizenship was granted in short order and she moved to Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
. Her application and arrival was controversial due to the opposition of anti-apartheid campaigners.
Shortly afterwards Budd was forced to pull out of a 1,500 metre race in Crawley
Crawley
Crawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the 2001 Census.The area has...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
when the town council withdrew their invitation at short notice. The race was part of the inaugural event for the town's new Bewbush Leisure Centre and Mayor Alf Pegler said members of the Council had expressed misgivings that the local significance of the event would be overshadowed by "political connotations and anti-apartheid demonstrators".
She ran her first competitive race on the cinder track at Central Park in Dartford
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent, England, east south-east of central London....
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, covering 3000 metres
3000 metres
The 3000 metres is a popular amateur middle distance track event where 7.5 laps are completed around a 400 metre track. This event is generally classified as middle distance, but it could be classed as a long distance event in many high schools, since they do not promote races such as the 5000 and...
in 9 mins. 2.6 seconds in a race shown live on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Grandstand
Grandstand
A grandstand is a large and normally permanent structure for seating spectators, most often at a racetrack. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap all or most of the way...
programme. She ran in further races in Britain including the UK Championships 1,500m (won in 4m 4s) and the 3,000m in the UK Olympic trials which she won in 8 mins. 40 secs., earning a place on the British Olympic team. In the 2,000m at Crystal Palace in July 1984 she set a new world record of 5 mins. 33.15 secs. Commenting during the race for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, David Coleman
David Coleman
David Coleman, OBE is an English former sports commentator and TV presenter who worked for the BBC for almost fifty years. In 2000, he was awarded the Olympic Order, the highest honour of the Olympic movement....
exclaimed, "The message will now be flashed around the world - Zola Budd is no myth."
1984 Olympic 3000 metres
Mary Decker
Mary Slaney is an American former track athlete. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships, and set 17 official and unofficial world records and 36 US national records.-Biography:Mary Decker was born in Bunnvale, Hunterdon County, New...
, few reporting that a third contestant, Romanian Maricica Puică
Maricica Puica
Maricica Puică is a Romanian former middle distance athlete, who won the 3000 meters gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, a race also remembered for the collision of Mary Decker and Zola Budd....
, had set the fastest time that year.
Decker set a fast pace from the gun with Budd in close pursuit followed by Puică and Britain's Wendy Smith-Sly. When the pace slowed, just past the midway point, Budd took the lead on the straight and ran wide of the pack around the turn. Setting the pace she took herself, Decker, Smith-Sly and Puică clear of the pack. She seemed to assume control of the race coming out of the turn on the track at 1700 metres. Half a stride behind Budd, on the inside, Mary Decker
Mary Decker
Mary Slaney is an American former track athlete. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships, and set 17 official and unofficial world records and 36 US national records.-Biography:Mary Decker was born in Bunnvale, Hunterdon County, New...
's right thigh contacted Budd's left foot, knocking Budd slightly off balance. Decker maintained her close position and again clipped Budd, striking the leader's calf with her right shoe as Budd moved towards the inside. A third collision followed and Decker stumbled and fell onto the infield. Her left hip injured, she was unable to resume the race.
Although Budd continued to lead for a while, she eventually finished 7th amid a resounding chorus of boos. Her finishing time of 8 m. 48 s. was well outside her best of 8 m. 37 s. Writing in her autobiography years later, Budd stated that she deliberately slowed down to take herself out of contention because she couldn't face collecting a medal in front of the hostile partisan crowd. Budd tried to apologize to Decker in the tunnel after the race, but Decker did not respond in the same spirit, and replied, “Don’t bother!” Puică took gold, with Sly in second, and Canada's Lynn Williams the bronze.
Although Budd was jeered by the crowd, an IAAF
International Association of Athletics Federations
The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded in 1912 at its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation...
jury found that she was not responsible for the collision. Decker said many years after the event “The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn’t the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack."
In general, it is the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead; whether or not Budd had sufficient control of the race to have pulled into the curve as she naturally did was hotly disputed. "This doesn't mean," track journalist Kenny Moore wrote in the aftermath, "that a leader can swerve in with impunity, but that in the give and take of pack running, athletes learn to make allowances." At first the US media sided with Decker, while the British press supported Budd.
In 2002 the moment was ranked 93rd in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.
International competition
Budd competed internationally for the UK in 1985 and 1986. In February 1985, she was World Cross Country Champion (beating Ingrid KristiansenIngrid Kristiansen
Ingrid Kristiansen née Christensen , was one of the best female long distance runners in the second half of the 1980s. She finished in fourth place in the first women's Olympic marathon race, at the 1984 Summer Olympics.-Career:Kristiansen started her career quite unremarkably, running 2:30 - 2:40...
) but then went on to several track defeats. The most significant of these was her rematch with Mary Decker-Slaney at Crystal Palace in July 1985 in which she finished fourth, some 13 seconds behind Decker-Slaney.
Budd's form improved significantly after this race, however, as she then went on to break the UK and Commonwealth records for the 1500 m (in 3:59.96), the mile (4:17.57), the 3000 m (8:28.83) and the 5000m (14:48.07). This last reduced the world record by ten seconds. She was also victor in the European Cup
European Cup (athletics)
The European Cup is a now defunct athletics competition, replaced by the European Team Championships from 2009 onwards. The Europa Cup saw most of the major nations of Europe compete. Originally known as the Bruno Zauli Cup, it first took place in Stuttgart and Kassel , Germany in 1965...
3000 m. Her best times in the 1500 m, mile run
Mile run
The mile run is a middle-distance foot race which is among the more popular events in track running.The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races...
and 3000 m were set in races with Decker-Slaney and Maricica Puică
Maricica Puica
Maricica Puică is a Romanian former middle distance athlete, who won the 3000 meters gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, a race also remembered for the collision of Mary Decker and Zola Budd....
. Budd finished third in all three races, with Decker-Slaney and Puică consistently coming first and second respectively.
1986 began with a defence of her World Cross Country title and a world indoor 3000m record of 8 m. 39.79 s. However after a couple of victories in fast early season times over 1500m (4:01:93) and 3000m (8:34:72) her outdoor track season brought several defeats by athletes she should have beaten easily. She competed in both the 1500m and 3000m at the European Championships but did not win a medal in either, finishing 9th and 4th respectively. It later emerged that Budd was suffering a painful leg injury for much of the season: she did not compete in 1987 as she sought treatment for this.
In 1988 she began to compete again with a handful of cross-country runs. However several African nations claimed that she competed in an event in South Africa (Budd claimed she only attended the event and did not run) and insisted she be suspended from competition. The International Amateur Athletics Federation upheld this charge and suspended her, at which point Budd returned to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. She retired from international competition for several years, but returned in time to represent South Africa in the 1992 Summer Olympics
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, competing in the 3000m.
Marriage and beyond
In 1989 Budd married Mike Pieterse. She began racing again in South Africa. She had an excellent season in 1991 and was the second fastest woman in the world over 3,000m. Following South Africa's re-admission to international sport she competed in the 3000 metres at the 1992 Summer Olympics1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
but did not qualify for the final. In 1993 she finished fourth at the World Cross Country championships but would never translate this form onto the track.
Budd remains the holder of numerous British and South African records at junior and senior levels and still holds two junior world records; the mile and the 3000 metres.
In April 2006 Budd filed for divorce after her husband allegedly moved in with a semi-finalist in the Mrs. United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
South Africa beauty pageant. The couple later reconciled.
Budd and her family have been living in Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach is a coastal city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is situated on the center of a large and continuous stretch of beach known as the Grand Strand in northeastern South Carolina. It is considered to be a major tourist destination in the...
, South Carolina, USA since August 2008. She has a two-year visa that allows her to compete on the US masters' circuit, is a volunteer coach at Coastal Carolina University
Coastal Carolina University
Coastal Carolina University is an independent, state-supported, liberal arts university in Conway, South Carolina, USA, located eight miles west of Myrtle Beach. Founded in 1954, Coastal became an independent university in 1993. The University enrolls approximately 8,300 students on its campus...
Chanticleer
Chanticleer
- Fiction :*A rooster appearing in fables about Reynard The Fox**The Nun's Priest's Tale, a version of Chanticleer and the Fox told in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales**By metonymy, any rooster**A character in the movie Rock-a-Doodle played by Glen Campbell...
s track team and has raced in the South Carolina division of USA Track and Field, winning the women's division of the Dasani Half-Marathon during Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon on 14 February 2009 with a time of 1:20:41.
Budd's children also compete: at the 2 May Orangeburg (SC) Festival of Roses road race, after winning the women's 12 km. event, she watched her daughter Lisa (13) win the girls 5 km. 12-19 age group at 30:17, followed by her niece Claudia (17) at 31:36.
Cultural impact
In South Africa today, township taxis are nicknamed "Zola Budd" for their speed. Late singer Brenda FassieBrenda Fassie
Brenda Fassie , was a South African pop singer. She was known for her "outrageousness" and widely considered a voice for disenfranchised blacks during apartheid. She was affectionately known as the Queen of African Pop and her nickname amongst fans was Mabrr.-Biography:Brenda was born in Langa,...
(whom Time Magazine called "the Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
of the townships" in 2001) had a hit single in the 1980s with her track "Zola Budd".
External links
- SAfrica.info – Sporting Greats, Athletics: Zola Budd
- SportsIllustrated.com – SI cover: Back on Track – Mary Decker-Slaney beats Zola Budd in London
- Barefoot Running Book – Publication reviewed by Zola Budd's former coach with excerpts highlighting her career
- dartfordharriersac.co.uk – Dartford Harriers website with reference to Budd's race in 1984