Zola Budd Shatters World 5,000-Meter Record at London

Zola Budd cut more than 10 seconds off the world record in the women’s 5,000-meters Monday after secretly entering a track meet to avoid anti-apartheid protests.

The South African-born athlete, now a naturalized British citizen but still the frequent target of protesters, ran away from Ingrid Kristiansen, finishing in 14 minutes, 48.07 seconds to eclipse the Norwegian’s year-old mark of 14:58.89.

Although Kristiansen also beat her record with a time of 14:57.43, she finished almost 60 yards behind Budd. The third-place finisher, New Zealand’s Lorraine Moller, finished more than 45 seconds behind Budd in a time of 15:35.75.

“It was a good race,” Budd said. “If it had not been for Ingrid being there, it would not have been so fast. We helped each other at the start of the race.

“The crowd was very supportive, and it also was the best weather we have had this year, and that helped.”

Budd’s victory amounted to something of a bonus for the fans, who had been disappointed when Steve Cram, a double world record-holder was forced by injury to pull out of a bid to break the two-mile record.

Budd had not been listed as an entry in the international meet at the Crystal Palace track because she has been dogged by demonstrators opposed to South Africa’s policy of racial separation.

Her bid to win the English cross-country title in February ended when a demonstrator ran onto the course and forced her off. Less than a week after a similar attempt to disrupt a race in Edinburgh in July, Budd had to run behind a cordon of police and security guards when she won her first British Amateur Athletic Board outdoor title at Birmingham.

A crowd of 12,000 saw Budd’s record performance Monday, but about 3,000 more arrived at the Stadium after she had run.

“Zola has been the target for anti-apartheid demonstrators this season and we were worried it would happen again,” said Doug Goodman, head of the British Athletics Promotion Unit.

“We had to take a calculated risk--either to make an announcement well in advance and run the risk of trouble, or allow her to compete knowing that there would be no pressure. It was regrettable that some spectators missed her race, but we don’t feel that we cheated them. We had to weigh up the pros and cons of the situation.

“This way, she was able to run without the usual worry about the anti-Budd brigade.”

Watched by her mother, Tossie, who arrived from South Africa earlier in the day, Budd shared the prearranged pacemaking duties with Kristiansen for 8 of the 12 laps before she opened a significant gap.

With two laps remaining and running well under the record pace, Budd had increased the lead to about 45 meters. With no other runner to chase her home, Budd had only the crowd to lift her.

Budd, who suffered three defeats earlier in the season, has bounced back with three victories in nine days, including a 3,000-meter success in the European Cup in Moscow.

“My attitude has changed in the last few races,” she said. “I am running more aggressively and enjoying it.”

Budd said she plans to run the 1,500 meters at Brussels on Friday and then concentrate on the 3,000 in next month’s Grand Prix final at Rome. She then plans to return to South Africa to train for the cross-country and road-racing seasons in Europe next winter.

The race that should have featured Cram was won by countryman Steve Ovett, but Ovett’s time of 8:29.18 was much slower than his world-record time of 8:13.51 set on the same track seven years ago.

The remainder of the international meet between England, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland failed to produce any major records. England won with 196 points, followed by Poland with 160, Hungary with 153 and Czechoslovakia with 150.