August 21, 1985 - Mary Decker-Slaney breaks mile world record in 4:16.71

Today is Thursday, August 21, 2025, and on this day in 1985, Mary Decker-Slaney broke the women’s world record in the mile, further cementing her place as the most accomplished American female middle-distance runner of the 20th century.

In this episode, we will learn more about running prodigy Mary Decker-Slaney, who did SO much more within her decades-long career than simply fall at the 1984 Olympics, as we covered on August 10th.