Budding Controversy

Perhaps the most tangled case of 1984 Olympic eligibility is that of a tiny teenager, 5-ft. 2-in., 82-lb. Zola Budd. The 17-year-old may be the fastest female middle-distance runner in the world, but she is having a tough time proving it officially. The reason: she is a white South African as well as a hastily minted British citizen. And that quick switch strikes some as too fast altogether.

The farm girl emerged, seemingly from nowhere, in a race near Cape Town last January. Striding barefoot, as she prefers, over the artificial Tartan, Budd ran the 5,000 meters in an amazing 15:01.83, shaving nearly 7 sec. from Mary Decker's world-record time. Although she runs with an unearthly determination--like "safari ants on the march," says her full-time coach, Pieter Labuschagne--her feat remains unofficial. The International Amateur Athletic Federation ousted South Africa in 1976 for its apartheid policies; the country is also banned from the Olympics.

Some South African athletes, white and black, have solved the dilemma by competing for other countries. Olympic Hopeful Sydney Maree, for instance, will become a U.S. citizen next week; the Villanova track star married an American 3 1/2 years ago. Budd took a different course. Her father Frank is the grandson of an Englishman, entitling her to British citizenship. As part of a secret deal struck by Frank Budd, Labuschagne and London's Daily Mail, the family was flown to England last month. For a reported $300,000 trust fund and living expenses, the Mail has exclusive rights to Zola's story. "British blood runs in her veins," puffed one of its editorials.

Many debate the point. Noting that Budd got her citizenship papers in a matter of weeks while others have been waiting up to two years, the Times of London observed primly that in England "queue jumping is frowned upon." There are other critics. After setting a British junior record against an undistinguished field last week, Budd was pressured to withdraw from a tune-up race last Saturday in Sussex because officials said they feared antiapartheid demonstrators. Jane Furniss, England's No. 2 middle-distance runner, says of her new competitor: "When our flag goes up and they play the national anthem, would she feel she had won for Britain or South Africa?" Like those safari ants, Budd is pressing on. She has next to hurdle the I.O.C. eligibility rule requiring three years' residency. Exceptions have been made in the past, notes Sir Arthur Gold of the British Amateur Athletic Association, who will argue her case this week. Sir Arthur is not even sure he wants to win, however. Says he: "If the committee says yes, the Third World will attack us for trying to get in through the side door."