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Now competing as Wendy Sly (she had married miler Chris Sly in October
1982), in January 1983 Wendy ran the fastest ever mile by a British
woman (4.30.09) when finishing runner-up to Mary Decker (4.25.27) in an
indoor race at Madison Square Garden, New York City, and then scored a
notable victory in Tampa, Florida, the following month, handing out a
first defeat to Grete Waitz on the US road circuit when winning a 15km
race in 48.18 (only 17 seconds outside Waitz's world best). In May
1983, Sly claimed her first UK title when taking the 3000m (8.56.28) at
Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh, and then lowered her 1500m personal best
to 4.06.42 in Prague in June, before notching up 1500m wins at Crystal
Palace and in Nice.
These efforts led to her selection at both 1500 and
3000m at the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki. In the 3000m
final there, Wendy ran a Commonwealth record of 8.37.06 (over eight
seconds inside the previous best) to finish a commendable 5th, less than
three seconds adrift of the winner, Mary Decker (USA). She also placed
5th in the 1500m final (again won by Decker), her time of 4.04.14
moving her to second on the UK all-time list behind Chris Benning.
Sly
completed a highly successful season by winning New York's prestigious
Fifth Avenue Mile in a new course record (4.22.66) in September, and
then in December, in San Diego, she triumphed in the inaugural Women's
World Road Race Championships, clocking 32.23 over the 10km course.
Injury and illness hampered her early in the Olympic year of 1984 but
she recovered to gain selection for the inaugural 3000m event at the Los
Angeles Games. Here she won a fine silver medal (a delighted Wendy is pictured above celebrating her achievement)
in a time of 8.39.47, behind Romania's Maricica Puica (8.35.96) but,
unfairly for her and the other medallists, the result was overshadowed
by the furore caused by local favourite Mary Decker crashing out of the
race after tripping over the barefoot Briton (ex-South African), Zola
Budd.
The two British rivals met again in a 10km road race in Arizona
in March 1985, Wendy winning with Zola 30 seconds in arrears, but a knee
injury shortly afterwards required an operation that put paid to the
rest of the season. The 1986 season was also a write-off due to injury,
but Sly came back in 1987 to win the Women's AAA 3000m title (9: 04.83)
and place a creditable 8th in the final of the 3000m (8: 45.85) at the
World Championships in Rome.
At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Wendy
finished a commendable 7th in the 3000m final, her time of 8: 52.37 the
best she had run in four years. Another knee operation, in the summer
of 1989, halted her progress once again but she regained fitness in time
to compete at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland. Here, in what
proved to be Sly's last appearance at a major international
championships, she failed to finish in the final of the 10000m. Wendy
retired from athletics in 1991, bringing an end to a fine career, the
undoubted highlight being that 3000m silver at the '84 Olympics. (Martin Greensill)
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