Budd Admits, For the First Time, That She Caused Slaney to Fall

Zola Budd has admitted publicly for the first time that she was responsible for the collision with Mary Decker Slaney in the 1984 Summer Olympic Games at Los Angeles.

In a copyrighted interview with Seattle station KING-TV, Budd said she cut in too close, causing Slaney, then known as Mary Decker, to fall with 1,300 meters left in the women’s 3,000-meter race.

Budd’s coach, Pieter Labuschagne, also told the station that she was to blame for the collision.

“I think Zola made a mistake by running the way she (ran) . . . and not cut into the curb more decisively,” said Labuschagne.

Slaney has always maintained Budd was responsible for the collsion, but she told the television station she accepts a large share of the blame for failing to reach out and let Budd know she was too close.

Slaney said she wrote to Budd, who lives in Guildford, England, in March and apologized for hurting her feelings with her comments after the race. Slaney told Budd, “Don’t bother,” when she came over to apologize after the race, and later critiziced her at an Olympics news conference.

Budd, a native of South Africa who ran for the British team in the Olympics, said she was forced to cut in on Slaney by teammate Wendy Sly.

“We came around the bend, and I was running next to her (Slaney),” Budd said. “And Wendy Sly began to run close to me, and I had to go forward. Otherwise, she would have run into me and would have blocked me.

“And I think that’s what made me to cut in shorter than what is the right way.

“And because everybody was boxed in at that stage, we were boxed in, I think we were four athletes at that stage and--and Wendy Sly tried to pass. As she did, she made me to go closer to Mary. I think that’s why I had to cut in short.”