Mary Decker

Mary Decker is an American former middle- and long-distance runner who dominated womens distance running in the early 1980s. She won gold in both the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships, was the first woman to run a mile in under 4 minutes 20 seconds, and set thirty six United States records across distances from 800 meters to 10,000 meters, some of which stood for decades, including a 1500-meter mark that lasted 32 years and a mile record that stood for 38 years. For part of the early 1980s she competed under her then married name, Mary Decker Tabb, and she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2003.