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Wendy Sly was one of the world's leading middle distance runners on the
track in the 1980s, as well as being a top performer in distance events
on the road. Competing under her maiden name of Wendy Smith, she made
her first impact at senior level in 1978, finishing runner-up in the
National Cross-Country Championships and placing 3rd in the 1500m final
at the Women's AAA Championships, her time of 4.13.40 a UK best for
women aged 18. In 1979, she ran 4.13.06 for 1500m (the fastest ever
time by a female British teenager) and recorded 4.36.93 for a mile (less
than a second outside the UK record).
These performances led to her
full international debut in a West Germany v Great Britain v Poland
match in Bremen, where she finished 6th in the 1500m (4.14.69). Wendy
ended the year with victory in a ten-mile event, the Tipton '10', in
November, her time of 54.47 placing her third on the UK all-time list.
She began 1980 by breaking 9 minutes for 3000m for the first time
(8.53.78), but disappointment followed as she failed to gain selection
for the 1500m at that year's Moscow Olympics (the women's 3000m would
not be introduced as an Olympic event until 1984)
. In 1981, she bounced
back to win the National Cross-Country Championships and then placed
6th (4.10.76) in the 1500m final at the World Student Games in
Bucharest, Romania. From October 1981 to June 1982, Wendy competed on
the road running circuit in the United States, where she won several
races over 10km and 15km, in extremes of climate and at various
altitudes, and ran 49.01 for 15km, a time only bettered by the Norwegian
distance legend, Grete Waitz. Returning to Europe for the track
season, she set her first UK record at the Bislett Games in Oslo
(Norway) in July 1982, clocking 8.46.01 for 3000m when runner-up to the
American starlet Mary Decker (8.29.71).
Wendy missed out on selection
for that year's European Championships after placing 4th - when unwell -
in a 3000m trial, but recovered to win her first international medal by
taking silver in the 3000m at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. She
lost out to Anne Audain of New Zealand (who won in a Commonwealth record
of 8.45.53), though Smith's time of 8.48.47, in very windy conditions,
was the second fastest ever by a British woman. (Martin Greensill)
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