 mary teresa slaney (nÃ©e decker, born august 4, 1958) is an american former track athlete. during her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 world championships, and set 17 official and unofficial world records and 36 us national records.mary slaney (decker) at usa track & field hall of fame she has held the american record in the 1500 meters, mile, 2000 meters and 3000 meters since the early 1980s. ==biography== mary decker was born in the bunnvale section of lebanon township, new jersey. a decade later her family moved to garden grove in southern california, where decker started running. a year later, aged 11, she won her first local competition. she joined her school athletics club and a local track club, and completely immersed herself in running, for which she would pay an injury-laden price later in her career. aged 12, in one week she completed a marathon and four middle- and long-distance races, ending the week with an appendectomy operation. ==career== in her early teens, decker was already recognized as a world-class runner. unable to attend the 1972 olympics as she was too young, the pigtailed  14 year old nicknamed "little mary decker," won international acclaim in 1973 with a win in the 800 meters at a us-[[soviet 
1958_births American_middle-distance_runners American_sportspeople_in_doping_cases American_sportswomen Athletes_(track_and_field)_at_the_1979_Pan_American_Games Athletes_(track_and_field)_at_the_1984_Summer_Olympics Athletes_(track_and_field)_at_the_1988_Summer_Olympics Athletes_(track_and_field)_at_the_1996_Summer_Olympics Doping_cases_in_athletics Female_middle-distance_runners Former_world_record_holders_in_athletics_(track_and_field) James_E._Sullivan_Award_recipients Living_people Masters_athletes National_Distance_Running_Hall_of_Fame_inductees Olympic_track_and_field_athletes_of_the_United_States Pan_American_Games_gold_medalists_for_the_United_States People_from_Lebanon_Township,_New_Jersey Track_and_field_people_from_California University_of_Colorado_alumni World_Championships_in_Athletics_medalists