Image: Wikimedia Commons

Mary Decker

American athletics competitor, middle distance runner, long distance runner

PersonAge 68humanQ238299

Also known as Mary Teresa Decker Slaney · Mary Decker Slaney · Mary Decker-Slaney · Mary Tabb · Mary Teresa Slaney · Mary Slaney

Born: August 4, 1958
3
Sources
1.Stated in FemBio databaseRetrieved 2017-10-09
2.Stated in World Athletics database
3.Stated in Great Norwegian EncyclopediaRetrieved 2026-10-17
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Birthplace: Flemington
, Bunnvale
2
Sources
1.Stated in The International Who's Who of Women 2006
2.Stated in Great Norwegian EncyclopediaRetrieved 2026-10-17
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Citizenship: United States
Occupation: long-distance runner
, middle-distance runner
, athletics competitor
1
Sources
1.Stated in USA Track & Field athlete databaseRetrieved 2022-04-06
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Education: University of Colorado
, Orange High School
Spouse: Ron Tabb(1981–1983)
, Richard Slaney(since 1985)
Height: 168 cm
Languages spoken, written or signed: English

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Mary Teresa Decker, is an American retired middle-distance and long-distance runner. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships and was the world-record holder in the mile, 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. In total, she set 17 official and unofficial world records, and she was the first woman to break 4:20 for the mile. She also set 36 U.S. national records at distances ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters, and has held the U.S. record in the 2000 meters and 3000 meters since the early 1980s, while her 1500 meters record stood for 32 years and her mile record stood for 38 years. In 2003, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. She was retroactively banned for two years from June 1996 for a doping violation for a high testosterone to epitestosterone ratio.

Overview

Life at a glance

Positions, education, employers and awards over time

Spans and dates from Wikidata qualifiers (start/end/point in time). Hover for details; click to open.

All data

58 statements · 10% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

On other databases

26 identifiers linking Mary Decker across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

10%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 17, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

Suggest a fact or correction

Links

Use this data

curl https://aidb.si/api/v1/entities/Q238299

API docs, limits & keys

Cite this page

AIDB. (2026). Mary Decker (Q238299). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/mary-decker-Q238299