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Mary Decker
USAWomenMary Teresa Decker, (born August 4, 1958) is an American retired middle-distance and long-distance runner. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships and was the world-record holder in the mile, 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. In total, she set 17 official and unofficial world records, and she was the first woman to break 4:20 for the mile.
She also set 36 U.S. national records at distances ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters, and has held the U.S. 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.
In 2003, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. She was retroactively banned for two years from June 1996 for a doping violation for a high testosterone to epitestosterone ratio.
As of Sep 15, 2026: 1500 m 3:57.12 (#58 all-time), 3000 m 8:25.83 (#51 all-time), 1996 season best 4:07.51 (Jun 2, 1996, Abbotsford (CAN)) · Last competition: IAAF World Indoor Championships, Mar 7, 1997, DQ · World Championships: 2 gold · 68 years old
Personal bests
Medals
| 🥇 | 🥈 | 🥉 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | 2 | - | - | 2 |