SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP)—Pete and Christine Pfitzinger will be a unique couple at the Seoul Olympics. Married nearly four years, they will compete for different countries.

Pete will run the marathon for the United States. Christine will run the 3,000 meters for New Zealand.

In 1984, after a surprising win in the marathon at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Pete was the first American finisher in the Los Angeles Games, placing 11th.

Chris, the 1987 New Zealand champion at 800 and 1,500 meters, barely missed qualifying in the 3,000 for the 1984 Games.

“Going into 1984, I thought I would make the team and he was a longshot,” Chris said. “It turned out the opposite. He did and I didn’t.”

Pete was sympathetic at Chris’ disappointment.

“He said if I didn’t want to go to the Olympics, he could understand,” Chris said. “But I said I wanted to go.”

Prior to the ‘84 Games, Pete had suffered a back injury, hampering his performance in the Olympics.

“He ran as best he could under the circumstances,” Chris said. “The fact that he had made the team was so overwhelming.

“There is so much hype to making the U.S. team, it’s so easy to get carried away. That was one of the few mistakes he ever made.”

Also prior to the Games was when Pete proposed to Chris. It happened at the U.S. track and field team’s training camp at California-Santa Barbara.

“Pete was at the Santa Barbara camp only three days when he called me in Boston and said he was lonely,” Chris said. “He said some of the other athletes had their wives there….”

Pete then quickly made the decision to propose.

“I was hoping it was coming,” Chris said. “We had been going out for a year, but he never mentioned it, he never brought it up.

“But as soon as we got to the apartment where we were staying (on the campus), I got a shock …

“We had to keep it a secret until after the Olympics, though, because we didn’t want to say anything at the camp.”

The Pfitzingers were married Dec. 15, 1984, at Cornwall Park in Auckland, New Zealand.

“It’s a big, beautiful park we’ve become attached to,” Chris said. “We do a lot of running there.”