Zola Budd-Pieterse

Zola Budd, later Zola Budd-Pieterse, was a South African distance runner who ran for Great Britain at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. It was a controversial choice at the time as Budd was South African and the country was then banned from the Olympics.

However, Budd was a child running prodigy, bettering the world record for 5,000 metres in early 1984 at only 18-years-old, although it could not be officially recognized because of her citizenship. The Daily Mail, a British tabloid newspaper, encouraged Budd’s father to have her represent Great Britain in Los Angeles because her grandfather had British citizenship. This was the method by which she was added to the Great Britain team.

At the Los Angeles Olympics Budd competed in the 3,000 metres where the favorite was US runner Mary Decker-Slaney. Just over four laps into the race, with Budd leading, Budd and Decker-Slaney collided, with Decker-Slaney falling to the ground with a hip injury and did not finish the race, in tears on the infield. Budd finished but placed seventh, the race eventually won by Romania’s Maricica Puică. Budd tried to apologize to Decker-Slaney, who was her idol, but Decker-Slaney blamed Budd for the incident and did not accept it, telling her not to bother.

In 1985 Budd broke the 5,000 metre world record again, and this time it was recognized as a British citizen. She raced well over the next few years, winning the 1985 World Cross-Country Championships, but injuries limited her effectiveness in the later 1980s. In 1989 she returned to South Africa and represented them at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics but did not make the final of the 3,000 metres.

After marriage, Budd-Pieterse moved to South Carolina in 2008 and raced marathons and ultramarathons. She ran several times at the Comrades Ultramarathon in South Africa and eventually moved back to South Africa in 2021.

Personal Best: 3000 – 8:28.83 (1985).