Budd, who was born in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, South Africa, achieved fame in early 1984, at the age of 17, when she broke the 5000 m world record with a time of 15:01.83.

With a strong push from the Daily Mail, registration as a British citizen was granted in short order and she moved to Guildford.

[9] Commenting during the race for the BBC, David Coleman exclaimed, "The message will now be flashed around the world – Zola Budd is no myth."

In the 1984 Olympics, held in Los Angeles, California, the media billed the 3000 m race as a duel between Budd and world champion Mary Decker of USA.

However, experts expected that Decker's main competition would be Romanian Maricica Puică, who had set the fastest time that year.

[10] Decker set a fast pace from the gun with Budd in close pursuit, followed by Puică and Britain's Wendy Sly.

When the pace slowed just past the midway point, Budd took the lead on the straight and ran wide of the pack around the turn.

Decker stepped on Budd; then, shortly after, she collided with the British runner and fell to the curb, injuring her hip.

The fall ended her race, and she was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney.

"[13] In general, it is the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead; whether or not Budd had sufficient control of the race to have pulled into the curve as she did was hotly disputed.

"This doesn't mean," track journalist Kenny Moore wrote in the aftermath, "that a leader can swerve in with impunity, but that in the give and take of pack running, athletes learn to make allowances.

It later emerged that Budd was suffering a painful leg injury for much of the season; she did not compete in 1987 as she sought treatment for this.

The IAAF upheld the charge, stating: In the opinion of the council, a person may ‘take part’ in an athletics event, without actually competing, in several ways.

Following South Africa's re-admission to international sport, she competed in the 3000m at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona but did not qualify for the final.

[24] In June 2014, Budd entered the Comrades again, hoping for an overall silver medal and for a time under 7 hours 30 minutes (7:30:00).

[26] Budd dedicated her 2014 Comrades run to South African teacher Pierre Korkie,[27] held captive in Yemen by Al-Qaeda for one year.

[29] Budd and her coach pointed out that the veteran gold medal and silver medal were then given to two runners who also did not have the small age category tag on their running vests, and announced in September 2014 that they had started court proceedings against the Comrades Marathon Association to have her veteran win reinstated.

[35] The singer Brenda Fassie (whom Time magazine called "the Madonna of the townships" in 2001) had a hit single in the 1980s with her track "Zola Budd".

On 20 July 2012 BBC Radio 4 broadcast a play about the political and media actions taken to bring Zola Budd to Britain with her father at the age of 17, the script implying she was unwilling and homesick.