Zola Budd

Zola Budd
Budd at the 1986 European Championships
Personal information
Born (1966-05-26) 26 May 1966 (age 58)
Bloemfontein, South Africa[1]
Height164 cm (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight40 kg (88 lb)
Children3
Sport
SportAthletics
Event800 m – marathon
ClubAldershot, Farnham & District AC[1]
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
  • 800 m – 2:00.9h (1984)
  • 1500 m – 3:59.96 (1985)
  • 1 mile – 4:17.57 (1985)
  • 3000 m – 8:28.83 (1985)
  • 5000 m – 14:48.07 (1985)
  • 10,000 – 36:44.88 (2012)
  • Half marathon – 1:11:04 (1997)
  • Marathon – 2:55:39 (2012)[2][3]
Medal record
Women's Cross Country
Representing  England
World Cross Country Championships
Gold medal – first place 1985 Lisbon Individual Women
Gold medal – first place 1986 Nieuwegein Individual Women

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 3000 metres. In 1984 (unratified) and 1985, she broke the world record in the 5000 metres. She was also a two-time winner at the World Cross Country Championships (1985–1986).[4] Budd mainly trained and raced barefoot. Her mile best of 4:17.57 in 1985 stood as the British record for 38 years until Laura Muir ran 4:15.24 on 21 July 2023.

She returned to South Africa in 1989, and represented South Africa at the 1992 Summer Olympics. She moved with her family to South Carolina, USA in 2008; and competed at marathons and ultramarathons. She moved back to South Africa in 2020–2021.

  1. ^ a b c "Zola Budd-Pieterse". Sports-Reference. Archived 3 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ "Zola BUDD-PIETERSE". World Athletics.
  3. ^ "Zola Pieterse". Track and Field Statistics.
  4. ^ Mackay, Duncan; Meldrum, Andrew (10 August 2005). "Zola Pieterse finds peace in native land". The Guardian. London.