Mary Slaney (born August 4, 1958) moved to Eugene in 1979 and began training at South Eugene High School with Nike’s Athletics West track team. She was "Little Mark Decker" when she began setting American and World records as a California high school ranks. She set her first World Recond (Indoor Mile 4:40.1) in 1973 at age 15. Mary came to collegiate prominance at Colorado and only missed the 1976 and 1980 Olympics due to injuries and the USA boycott of the Moscow Games.
She went on to become the only athlete to hold U.S. track records from 800 to 10,000 meters. In 1982, she set world records in the mile (4:18.08), 2,000 meters (5:32.7), 3,000 indoors (8:47.3), 5,000 (15:08.26) and 10,000 (31:35.3) and received the Sullivan Award as the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States. Slaney won both the 1,500 and 3,000 at the 1983 world championships in Helsinki, Finland.
The drama of her fall in the 1984 3000 meters at the LA Olympics was followed by more success in longer distances. After battling the IAAF over eligibility and more injuries, she retired in 2000.
During her illustrious running career, she set 36 national records and 17 world records, despite repeated injuries. In 2003, she was inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame.