UA's Hansen fell before Decker at 1984 Olympics, but finished race
Knowing what we know now, it's hard not to skip straight to the collision between Mary Decker and Zola Budd, a little more than halfway through the women's 3,000-meter at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
But to do so is to miss the first fall in the ill-fated race, one that Joan Hansen believes kept her off the podium.
With four laps remaining at the Los Angeles Coliseum, Hansen, a University of Arizona graduate, was running with the lead pack when she tripped over Portugal's Aurora Cunha.
"You can see her decelerate (on video) and my foot landed on hers and I went down," Hansen said. "My ribs hit the ground and I had difficulty catching my breath as I got up and kept racing. The next 200 meters I was just struggling to get air."
Because of the lead-up hype about the barefoot Budd, running for Great Britain instead of her native South Africa, and Decker, a running sensation since she was 14 still seeking her first Olympic medal, Hansen's fall barely made a ripple. "Somebody fell while you were talking," the BBC announcer said to his analyst. "I think it was Joan Hansen."
Given what Hansen went through to make it to the Olympics, her fall was devastating.
The Hansen twins – Joan and Joy, who grew up in Phoenix – started at UA as swimmers in 1976 then switched to track as walk-ons. Both are in the UA Sports Hall of Fame.
Joan set a 2-mile indoor world record in 1982 before an almost unthinkable series of setbacks followed: blood virus, Achilles tendinitis, cycling accident in February 1984 followed by a car accident four days later, temporary paralysis, blood poisoning and surgery.
"I ran 9:42 (in the 3,000) at the end of March," Hansen said. Yet somehow at the Olympic Trials on June 23, she managed 8:41 for third place behind Decker and Cindy Bremser. "When I made the (Olympic) team, I had six more weeks to train and knew I was in better shape than at the trials. I knew I was going to surprise a lot of people."
The second Olympic collision – 300 meters after Hansen's fall – left Decker injured on the infield, Budd with a spike wound and the world in an uproar and taking sides over who was at fault. Budd initially was disqualified then reinstated after an appeals jury studied replays.
Maricica Puica ended up the winner, although her gold is largely remembered only in her native Romania. Budd faded to seventh, three seconds ahead of Hansen, whose trials time would have been fast enough for a bronze medal.
"Performance is doing the best you can with what's handed to you," said Hansen, 56, who now lives in Dallas and has her own personal training business. "Life doesn't always provide us with the best options. My (Olympic) experience could have empowered a lot of people to embrace that way of living. Instead I was a ghost and it was an invisible performance. But there can't be regret for me because I did the best I could. I had an amazing Olympic experience in spite of a fall."