Background
Sly was born in Hampton, Greater London, England.
Sly was born in Hampton, Greater London, England.
In 1980, she was the United Kingdom number one in the 3000 metres and finished second in the 1500 metres at the United Kingdom Championships. In 1983, now competing as Wendy Sly, she finished fifth in the finals of both the 1500 metres and the 3000 metres at the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki.
She ran her lifetime bests in both events, 4:04.14 in the 1500 m and 8:37.06 in the 3000 m. She ran a season"s best of 8:39.47. Sly finished eighth in the 1987 World Championships 3000 metres final in Rome.
Then at her second Olympics in Seoul, she finished seventh in the 3000 metres final in 8:37.70, her fastest time in five years.
As of 2014, Sly still ranks in the United Kingdom all-time top 10 lists in the 3000 metres (6th with 8:3706 1983), 10,000 metres (10th with 31:5336 in 1988), 10 km road (3rd with 31:29 in 1983) and 15 km road (4th with 48:17 in 1985).
She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to athletics.