South African middle- and long-distance runner Zola Budd was a bit of an anomaly. While most runners during her era preferred the modern comforts and peformance improvment afforded in running shoes, she opted to maintain the barefoot, or natural, approach.
It worked for her. As a 17-year-old in 1984 she established an unrecognized 5000 meter record at an event in South Africa, running it in 15:01.83. It was unrecognized because South Africa was excluded from international competitions because of its segregation policies. She eventually became a naturalized citizen of Great Britain and ran for that nation at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles where she became a household name for her interaction on the track with American runner Mary Decker during the 3000 meter finals. The result was a fall for Decker and a disappointing seventh place finish for Budd.
As we were researching Budd – who now goes by Zola Pieterse – we found this wonderful recollection from photographer David Burnett who was in the Los Angeles Coliseum that day in 1984 and captured some of the most iconic images of the collision and its aftermath. Read Burnett’s remembrance here.
Budd went on to run in the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona, now representing her native South Africa, but did not qualify for the finals. Decker competed in the 1500 and 3000 meters in the 1988 Games in Seoul finishing eighth and 10th.
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