Mary Teresa Slaney (
née Decker, formerly
Tabb, born August 4, 1958) is an American former
track athlete. During her career, she won
gold medals in the
1500 meters and
3000 meters at the
1983 World Championships, and was the world record holder in the
mile,
5000 meters and
10,000 meters. In total, she set 17 official and unofficial
world records, including being the first woman in history to run inside 4:20 for
the mile. She also set 36
US national records at distances ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters, and has held the US record in the mile, 2000 meters and 3000 meters since the early 1980s, while her 1500 meters record stood for 32 years.