Zola Budd Wins Charleston Marathon in 2:59

Former South African athlete Zola Budd was back in the news again this week when she won the womens race in the Charleston Marathon in South Carolina in a time of 2:59:42. Now aged 47, this was just 4 minutes slower than her own personal best of 2:55:39.

Zola Budd is a former South African athlete who used to run barefoot and competed for Britain at a time when South African athletes were banned due to apartheid in that country. She is of course as famous for her involvement in an incident in the womens 3000m race at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics when the home favourite Mary Decker tripped and crashed onto the track. The video of that race can be seen in this old post.