Mary, Mary, quite ordinary?
It may have come to that for Mary Decker Slaney, 30, after a decade of brilliance in middle-distance running.
Slaney finished a distant 10th to Tatyana Samolenko of the Soviet Union in Sunday`s 3,000-meter final. After leading for the first half of the race, Slaney wound up nearly half a lap behind.
Another extraordinary era may have come to an end Sunday, when Edwin Moses of the U.S. finished third to teammate Andre Phillips and Amadou Dia Ba of Senegal in the 400-meter hurdles. It was the first time Moses, 32, had lost a race in three Olympic Games, two World Championships and two World Cups.
That is a position Slaney may never know in the Olympics. Too young to compete in 1972, injured in 1976, boycotted out of 1980, knocked off the track in the 3,000 after colliding with Zola Budd in 1984, she had never completed an Olympic final until Sunday.
”I thought finishing here would be better than falling in Los Angeles,” she said.
Now she wasn`t sure. Slaney certainly never imagined it wound end this way, with her struggling just to finish in 8 minutes 47.13 seconds, which was more than 21 seconds slower than her American record and more than 20 seconds slower than Samolenko`s time.
”It`s a big disappointment, but it`s not the end of the world, even though I have worked for this a long time,” Slaney said. ”I have the 1,500 to look forward to, and, if not, I have Barcelona (1992) to look forward to. My peak years are ahead.”
Those plans, both long- and short-range, may all be wistful thinking. Slaney admitted her participation in the 1,500 was doubtful because of a calf injury caused by bumping in the qualifying heat and the final. The first of three 1,500 rounds is Wednesday.
Samolenko, the 1987 world champion, outkicked Paula Ivan of Romania in the final 100 meters to win in 8:26.53, the third fastest 3,000 ever, blitzing the field over the final lap.
Florence Griffith Joyner did the same over a shorter distance, winning the women`s 100 meters in 10.54 seconds. Evelyn Ashford was second in 10.83. Heike Drechsler, the only East German to make the final, took third in 10.85.
