Wendy Sly

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(née Smith, born 5 November 1959) is a female British former athlete, who competed mainly in the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

. She won a silver medal in the event at the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. She won the 1983 10km World Road Race Championships in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

Early life

Sly was born in Hampton, Greater London, England. She attended

Spelthorne College __NOTOC__ Spelthorne College was a single-campus sixth form college on High Street, Ashford, Surrey, England. It was formed in 1975 as a successor to Ashford Sixth Form College and Sunbury Sixth Form College. Its campus was founded in 1911 as As ...

, then studied English literature at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

from 1978-81.

Career

In 1978, as Wendy Smith, she finished 43rd at the World Cross Country Championships, and won a team bronze medal. In 1980, she was the UK number one in the 3000 metres and finished second in the 1500 metres at the UK Championships. In 1982, at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, she won a silver medal in the 3000 metres, running 8:48.47 behind

Anne Audain Anne Frances Audain (née Garrett, born 1 November 1955) is a New Zealand middle and long-distance runner. She competed in three Olympic Games and four Commonwealth Games, winning the 1982 Commonwealth Games 3000m title and a silver medal in t ...

. In 1983, now competing as Wendy Sly, she finished fifth in the finals of both the 1500 metres and the 3000 metres at the inaugural

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. She ran her lifetime bests in both events, 4:04.14 in the 1500 m and 8:37.06 in the 3000 m. Also that year, she won the

IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships The IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships was an annual international athletics championship in road running organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur At ...

contested over 10 km. At her first

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

1984 in Los Angeles Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, Sly won a silver medal in the

, a race most remembered for the collision between

Mary Decker Mary Teresa Slaney (formerly Tabb, née Decker, born August 4, 1958) is a retired American middle-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 re ...

and

Zola Budd Zola Budd (also known as Zola Pieterse; born 26 May 1966) is a South African middle-distance and long-distance runner. She competed at the 1984 Olympic Games for Great Britain and the 1992 Olympic Games for South Africa, both times in the 30 ...

, with whom she had a strong rivalry. She ran a season's best of 8:39.47. Sly represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

again in the 3,000 metres event, at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, finishing eighth. She finished eighth in the 1987

3000 metres final in Rome. Then at her second

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, she finished seventh in the 3000 metres final in 8:37.70, her fastest time in five years. She represented

in the 10,000 metres event at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, but did not finish. As of 2019, Sly still ranks in the UK all-time top 10 lists in the 3000 metres (9th with 8:37.06 1983), 10 km road (4th with 31:29 in 1983) and 15 km road (4th with 48:17 in 1985). She was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to athletics.

Personal life

She married middle-distance runner Chris Sly in 1982.Sutton-based Olympic medallist Wendy Sly makes New Year Honours list
''Sutton and Croydon Guardian'', 31 December 2014 In 1997, she had a son, Max Heath. In 2013, she married her long-term partner, Andrew, whom she met through working together for her former university colleague and friend

Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medal ...

National titles

*1986 UK 3000 metres Champion *1987

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...

3000 metres Champion *1988 AAAs Indoor 3000 metres Champion

International competitions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith-Sly, Wendy 1959 births Living people People from Hampton, London Athletes from London English female middle-distance runners English female long-distance runners English female cross country runners Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Members of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Loughborough University IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships winners