1. Mary Decker set 36 US national records at distances ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters, and has held the US 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.
Mary Decker was retroactively banned for two years from June 1996 for a doping violation for a high testosterone to epitestosterone ratio.
Mary Decker was the first woman to break the 4:20 barrier for the mile in 1980 when she ran it in 4:17.55.
Mary Decker did not compete at the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics because of the American boycott.
In 1981, Mary Decker married fellow American distance runner Ron Tabb.
In 1982 Mary Decker-Tabb set six world records at distances ranging from the mile run to 10,000 meters.
Mary Decker received the James E Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.
Shortly before her World Championship victories, Mary Decker improved her US 1500 meters record to 3:57.12 in Stockholm on July 26,1983.
Mary Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
However, Mary Decker collided with Budd and fell to the curb, injuring her hip, and she did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania.
Mary Decker was carried from the track in tears by her boyfriend, British discus thrower Richard Slaney.
Mary Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place.
Mary Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning 12-mile and 3000-meter races in Europe, including a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich, a race in which she beat both Budd and Puica.
Since that race in 1985, Mary Decker's time has only been bettered four times.
Mary Decker missed the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, and then missed the 1987 season because of injury.
Mary Decker did not qualify for the 1992 Summer Olympics.
At the time of the positive test, Mary Decker was being coached by Alberto Salazar.