RUNNERS
the women’s mile record in Oslo by almost three seconds but that epic mark only lasted two months as Puica, who had married her coach, improved it to 4:17.44 in Rieti. It was a remarkable effort as it ended a demanding week which started with her winning the silver medal in the European 3,000m Championship in Athens, before she finished fourth in the 1,500m final. Puica missed the inaugural World Championships in 1983 due to injury. In her absence Decker claimed the 1500m/3000m double. This made Decker the favourite for the 3,000m at the 1984 Olympics, however the race
is remembered for the clash between her and Budd rather than the gutsy victory by the 34-year-old Romanian.
NEW WORLD RECORD The following year, Puica met Decker and Budd in a mile race in Zurich. A titanic battle saw Decker and Puica notch the fastest times ever recorded by women at the epic distance, but it was Decker who was first over the line in 4:16.71 to Puica’s 4:17.33. In 1986, at Crystal Palace, Puica set
a new 2000m world record of 5:28.69 but later that summer in Stuttgart found Soviet star Olga Bondarenko too good
in the European 3,000m Championship. The 1987 campaign saw Puica decide to concentrate on the 3,000m. A bronze medal in the World Indoor Champion- ship was a precursor to silver outdoors in Rome, where she was edged out by Tatyana Samolenko. Puica’s fourth and final Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 was a dispiriting experience, she had to give in to a calf injury during her heat of the 3000m and she pulled out. In 1989 Puica strengthened her iconic status in Romania when she spoke on state television in support of the revolutionaries fighting against the Ceaucescu regime.
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