Slaney vs. Puica

[pickle47]

Would Mary Slaney have beaten Marcica(sp?) Puica in the '84 3000 if she hadn't gone down? What do you think?

[Powell]

No

[6 5.5hjsteve]

I'm not sure that the magic of 1983 was still there. 35% yes, 65% no.

[Powell]

Anyway, had it not been for the boycott, neither Puica nor Decker would have won that race.

[Guest]

Slaney had been hurt (compared to injury-free 1983) and she looked nowhere near as confident leading the race as at the previous year's Worlds. Puica, by contrast, looked great...stalking the race leader and waiting to pounce.
I think the first two places would have been the same, even without the mishap: Puica and Sly.

[Guest]

>Anyway, had it not been for the boycott, neither
>Puica nor Decker would have won that race.

The World Rankings don't pretend to simulate the outcome of a race, but as 1984's #2-ranked woman in the 3k, I'd guess Puica would have had a chance (even if only a small one).

[Pierre-Jean]

She wasn'y injury free in 1983, she had a car accident in April, and her neck was hurting her. But she recovered quickly.

In 1984, Slaney wasn't as good as in 83 or 85, when she was better than Puica, so don't about about LA 84. Maybe Puica, but without boycott, Kazankina was unbeatable.

[Guest]

>Maybe Puica, but without boycott, Kazankina was
>unbeatable.

Right off the bat, someone will point out that Decker beat Kazankina in 1983.
As I have said on other forums, the Soviets/Eastern Bloc were gearing their distance runners on two-year/four-year cycles...a high point on the first even year and the highest coming on the Olympic year, for reaping greatest system propaganda.
With the World Cup being a competitive let-down, no one wanted to mortgage the socialist-collective farm for the new World Championships.
Decker was better than Kazanzina in 1983...in 1984? Decker-Slaney? Puica? Kazankina? Someone else?
One of those times you wish you could change things...I'd change the boycott before I'd change the mid-race fall.
I guess I'm just a bad American.

[Guest]

No Slaney was not in her '83 form in the '84 OG, but she was in plenty good enough shape to win that relatively slow race. I think she would have won handily....

[Guest]

But she didn't win. She fell down. Races are run. Results are black and white. Not what people think might have happened. What actually did happen. Get out of fantasy land and back to real life.

[Guest]

This board is all about opinions, what people think might have happened if...yes, we all know what happened but there is nothing wrong with giving an opinion re: what may have happened in the race had Slaney not fallen.

[Guest]

Fun trivia question: who was the first American to fall in the women's 3,000 meter final?

[pickle47]

Good question,Brian. I'm trying to remember the names of the other two runners. I can sort of picture them in my mind, but the names aren't coming to me. If memory serves, one was brunette and one blond (Please don't castigate me for being sexist, all you militant gender storm-troopers. I can picture their faces, but their hair is the only thing I can describe with my limited vocabulary.) and the brunette took a stumble. Was Joan Nesbit one of them? OK, I flunked.

[Guest]

Cindy Bremser was fourth, didn't fall. Joan Hanson was first to fall and finished 8th, perhaps?

[pickle47]

So much for my recall ability.

Anyway, as to whether Slaney would have won the 3K without the fall (Nope's comments notwithstanding), I think she would have won. Most people were surprised when she won the double in '83, but she showed she had the goods. It's not like she was a shadow of herself in '84. The big hit she took was losing (narrowly) to one Ms. Wysocki in the 1500, probably absorbing a bigger mental hit than anything. And she certainly handled Puica and company in '85, over and over again.

Kazankina is a whole different story. No one could beat her when she was on her game. (Should I capitalize Game there?)

[Guest]

>Cindy Bremser was fourth, didn't fall. Joan
>Hanson was first to fall and finished 8th,
>perhaps?

Give the poster a gold star!
Added bonus points for mentioning Bremser--probably the most overlooked all-around distance lady of the time, who did indeed equal Prefontaine's best Olympic placing.

[Guest]

Bremser dark hair, Hanson blonde. Bremser was a tough fast runner who, unfortunately, lost many a race/place/medal getting pipped at the line. Witness her reaction to Jennings outkicking her in the two mile at nationals indoors one year. WR to boot and Bremser got pipped. Jennings came from waaay back. Bremser just didn't have that finishing kick. Fourth at the Oly games is a hell of a good finish. Third at that Games went to Lynn Kanucka (?) Williams of Canada. PR for both women in third and fourth.