Author to sign new Zola Budd book at CCU
"Olympic Collision" is set in the 1984 summer games in Los Angeles. An audience of 2 billion people from around the world witnessed Mary Decker go down during the 3,000-meter race. Her opponent Zola Budd was accused of tripping Decker, but Budd was not officially faulted for the collision. The book then follows Decker's and Budd's lives and examines what has happened to them since they were involved in one of the most famous incidents in Olympic history.
Zola Budd, now Budd-Pieterse, is an assistant coach for the CCU track and field program. She is a South African native and a two-time Olympian. During her career, she broke the women's 5,000-meter record twice in a period of less than three years. She was also a two-time winner at the World Cross Country Championships. Pieterse is best known for training and competing barefoot throughout her track and field career. She still holds two junior world records.
Decker-Slaney was an American prodigy in the middle-distance and distance runner categories. She won gold medals in the 1,500 meters and 3,000 meters at the first World Athletics Championship. She was voted Track and Field News female athlete of the year in 1983 and Sports Illustrated Sportswoman of the Year. Recurrent injuries put an end to her career.
Keiderling is a freelance writer who is also the author of "Shooting Star: A Bevo Francis Story," which was optioned for a major motion picture, and "Heart of a Lion: The Life, Death and Legacy of Hank Gathers," which was named Best Sports Biography of 2011 by the International Book Awards Committee. Keiderling is a member of the United States Basketball Writers Association and has contributed articles to the Basketball Times and the Lincoln Library of Sports champions.
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