JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Former world record holder and barefoot running sensation Zola Budd will compete in South Africa’s Comrades ultra marathon.
The 45-year-old Budd says she still finds running “very challenging” and its the reason she entered the grueling 56-mile race in June.
Budd received a Johannesburg Press Club Newsmaker of the Year trophy on Friday — 28 years after she won it in 1984 after competing in the Los Angeles Olympics. The trophy had apparently gone missing.
Budd rose to fame for her raw talent as a South African teenager who ran without shoes. She is probably best remembered for a collision with American favorite Mary Decker Slaney in the 3,000-meter final at the 1984 Games.
