Richard Charles Slaney (born 16 May 1956) is a male

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by t ...

er who competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics and

strongman In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. These ...

competitor, notable for being a repeat winner of the

Britain's Strongest Man Britain's Strongest Man is an annual strongman event held in the United Kingdom. Competitors qualify for the final through regional heats and the winner is awarded the title of "Britain's Strongest Man". The competition is produced by TWI and se ...

title. At the

UK Athletics Championships The UK Athletics Championships was an annual national championship in track and field for the United Kingdom, organised by the British Athletics Federation. The event incorporated the 1980 Olympic trials for the British Olympic team. The venue ...

he won in 1979, ranked second in 1977 to 1978, and was third in 1980. He also came third in the shot put in 1980.

Biography

Slaney was born in Redhill, Surrey. As a sportsman he was foremost a

field athlete Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping e ...

specialising in the discus. However, whilst actively pursuing this sport, he did compete as a

strength athlete A strength athlete is a person who trains for or competes in events in which muscular strength and power play a primary role. Such events include weightlifting and powerlifting, strength athletics and strongman competitions, and arm wrestling, as ...

and won the

competition in 1980 and 1982. He also finished second behind Geoff Capes in the 1980

Europe's Strongest Man Europe's Strongest Man is an annual strength athletics competition which began in 1980. The event is held in various locations throughout Europe, and features exclusively European strongman competitors. Mariusz Pudzianowski holds the record for ...

competition. Across the pond in the same time period, he competed in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) syste ...

. He is still the university record holder in the

, his 64.64 best in 1982 outdistances the next best in university history by over 5 metres. He 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 ...

in the discus and shot put events, at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

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 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. As a discus thrower he qualified for the

1984 Olympic Games The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an intern ...

finishing 15th overall. Domestically, he threw the 2nd best UK discus performance of 1980, 3rd best in 1981 and the top UK discus performances in 1982 to 1986 inclusive. In 1986 he was also the national discus champion for the first and only time. His personal best of 65.16m makes him the second best British thrower after Perriss Wilkins. At the 1984 Olympics Slaney is remembered for carrying his fiancee

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 ...

from the track after she lay stricken at trackside during the 3,000m final, having tripped over the bare feet of

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 3000 ...

. Decker and Slaney married on 1 January 1985; their daughter Ashley was born on 30 May 1986. He represented

in the discus 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 th ...

. After he retired in 1986 Slaney became a businessman. He also works on restoring antique airplanes living with his family on a ranch in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census ...

, US. They have three

Weimaraner The Weimaraner ( ) is a large dog that was originally bred as a hunting dog in the early 19th century. Early Weimaraners were used by royalty for hunting large game such as boar, bear and deer. As the popularity of large game hunting began to ...

dogs.

References

External links

sports-reference.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaney, Richard 1956 births Living people People from Redhill, Surrey Sportspeople from Eugene, Oregon English strength athletes British strength athletes British male discus throwers English male discus throwers Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games San Diego State Aztecs men's track and field athletes Commonwealth Games competitors for England