Slaney Is a Golden Oldie in Winning 1,500 : Track and field: Her time of 4 minutes 4.92 seconds at San Jose is the world’s fastest this year.

Like a flash from the past, Mary Decker Slaney emerged from years of injury and obscurity Saturday with well-remembered panache. An iffy entry at the Bruce Jenner Symantec Classic, she won the 1,500 meters in 4 minutes 4.92 seconds, the fastest time in the world this season.

Although Slaney, 32, had placed second in a low-key 1,500-meter race two weeks ago, her fragile physical history since 1983 cautioned against expecting too much here. She delivered the unexpected, winning in emphatic fashion. She looked thinner and ran with the same economical elbows-in style that has been her trademark over 21 years in track and field.

Slaney still holds five American records. Perhaps a better gauge of her legacy in the sport is the inevitable labeling of each promising American female middle-distance runner as being “the next Mary Slaney.”

She ran a characteristic race--darting to the front, setting a fast pace and hanging on. PattiSue Plumer went right with Slaney, running just off her shoulder, threatening at any moment to use superior kicking speed to leave her in her dust.

It never happened. Plumer awoke Friday morning with a 102-degree temperature and flu-like symptoms.

After Saturday’s race, Plumer didn’t use her illness as an excuse for finishing second, but she acknowledged she “might have lost a step.”

That step might have allowed Plumer to pass Slaney as the two came off the final curve. Plumer pulled even, and for about 20 meters each surged for the lead. With less than 50 meters to go, Slaney appeared to throw an elbow, causing Plumer to fall off stride for an instant. Neither runner said much about the contact, and Plumer would only shrug and say, “That’s racing.”

Plumer was second in 4:05.04 and Christine Cahill of Great Britain was third in 4:07.60.

The day was sprinkled with fine performances to match equally fine, but breezy weather that helped bring out 13,500 to San Jose City College. The meet, which drew many international athletes, is only one of two in the U.S. to be part of the Mobil Grand Prix circuit.

The wind was the bane of Leroy Burrell’s day, putting an asterisk on an otherwise impressive 200 meters. Burrell’s time of 20.02 was helped by a tailwind of 2.9 meters per second--well above the allowable 2.2. Jeff Williams was second in 20.25 seconds.

Burrell, of the Santa Monica Track Club, had a slight hesitation at the start but looked strong after that. It was his first open 200 of the season. By this time last year Burrell had competed in four 200-meter races. The Houston resident ran 40 times last year and ended the season top-ranked in the world at 100 meters.

This season is different.

“I’m starting late, so I feel a little behind,” he said. “With only three weeks before the national championships, I have a lot of work to do.”

Burrell said he will run both the 100 and 200 at the nationals, which is the qualifying meet for the World Championships, held in Tokyo in August.

In other events, Mike Powell won the long jump with a leap of 27 feet 2 3/4 inches, Jackie Joyner-Kersee easily won the 100-meter hurdles in 13.02 seconds, Renaldo Nehemiah won the 110-meter hurdles in 13.47 and Aaron Ramirez won the 3,000 in 7:45.82. Steve Cram of Great Britain, scheduled to run in that event, was a no-show.

Slaney was the show. It was just like old times when she took a victory lap and basked in the applause. Later, by autograph seekers were received graciously by Slaney, who happily admitted her delight in being “back.”

“It feels great to win. It feels even better to be running healthy,” she said. “It’s so nice right now to go to the track and do a workout and not be worried about injury.”

Asked when was the last time she had won, Slaney laughed and said, “To be honest, I can’t remember.”

After much discussion, it was decided that the last time she had won outdoors was in the preliminaries at the 1988 Olympic Trials at Indianapolis.