Runner declines wedding offer

Press, 29 February 1984, Page 56

Runner declines wedding offer

NZPA-AP Birmingham A former British marathon runner who offered to marry a South African teen-age track star, Zola Budd, to give her a chance of Olympic glory has been turned down by the 17-year-old runner. Henry Allen, a 65-year-old widower from Hopwood near Birmingham, proposed to Budd to enable her to take up British citizenship. As a South African, she is barred from all international competition including the Olympic Games. Competing in Stellenbosch, South Africa, on January 5, Budd smashed Mary Decker’s world 5000 m record by a staggering six seconds, but because of her nationality, her time of 15:01.83 will not count and the American’s record of 15:08.26 — set in 1982 — still stands as the world’s official best time. Budd, from Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, is in her first year at university studying to become a teacher. Her refusal to take up Alien’s offer of marriage was mailed to Birmingham’s “Evening Mail” newspaper. “Naturally, I was not thinking of marriage in the true sense of the word,” said Mr Allen. “I just wanted to help her sporting career.”