Zola Budd

Zola Pieterse

Budd competing without shoes, 1984
Personal information
Nationality	South African
Born	(1966-05-26) 26 May 1966 (age 50) Bloemfontein, South Africa
Height	164 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	48 kg (106 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	800–10,000 m
Club	Aldershot, Farnham & District AC
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	800 m – 2:00.9 (1984) 1500 m – 3:59.96 (1985) Mile – 4:17.57 (1985) 3000 m – 8:28.83 (1985) 5000 m – 14:48.07 (1985) 10,000 m – 37:31.50 (2003)
Medal record Women's Cross Country Representing  England World Cross Country Championships 1985 Lisbon Individual Women 1986 Nieuwegein Individual Women

Zola Pieterse (née Budd; born 26 May 1966) is a middle-distance and long-distance runner who trained at Aldershot, Farnham & District AC. She competed at the 1984 Olympic Games for Great Britain and the 1992 Olympic Games for South Africa, both times in the 3000 metres. In 1984 (unratified) and 1985, she broke the world record in the women's 5000 metres. She was also a two-time winner at the World Cross Country Championships (1985–1986). Budd's career was unusual in that she mainly trained and raced barefoot. Since 2008 she has been living in South Carolina with her three children, competing at marathons and ultramarathons. She volunteers as assistant coach at Coastal Carolina University in Conway.

Budd, who was born in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, South Africa, achieved fame in 1984, at the age of 17, when she broke the women's 5000 m world record with a time of 15:01.83. Since her performance took place in South Africa, then excluded from international athletics competition because of its apartheid policy, the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) refused to ratify Budd's time as an official world record.