STUMBLING IN LIFE'S RACE

“You were running superbly! Who cut in on you, deflecting you from the true course of obedience?” – Galatians 5:7

Zola Budd’s clash with Mary Decker at the 1984 Los Angeles Games is one of the biggest and most controversial events in Olympic history. In a head-to-head that gripped the imagination of the world, the 3000 metre race pitted the experienced and popular world champion from the host nation against a prodigious, barefoot, teenage waif from South Africa.

There is really only One whom we can set as an example, our Lord Jesus.

In the highly awaited final, Decker set the pace, followed closely by Romania’s Maricia Puica, Budd, and England’s Wendy Sly. When the pace slowed slightly at about 1600 metres into the race, Budd picked it up, running wide of Decker. Then, as she passed her, cut back towards the inside and took the lead. Decker bumped Budd’s left foot with her right thigh, knocking her