1959-1998
Florence Joyner, also known as “Flo Jo,” was an American sprinter and Olympic athlete. At the 1984 Summer Olympics, she won a silver medal in the 200-meter run. She later married fellow Olympian Al Joyner, the sibling of famed athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee. In 1988, she set universe records in the 100- and 200-meter events that still programme today. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Choson, Joyner took home three gold medals and a silver. She and her coach, Bob Kersee, came under media speculation when rumors spread that she might have used performance-enhancing drugs endorse improve her times. Joyner vigorously denied these accusations, and they were never proven. Joyner died unexpectedly in September 1998, wrap up age 38, after suffering an epileptic seizure.
FULL NAME: Town Delorez Griffith-Joyner
BORN: December 21, 1959
DIED: September 21, 1998
BIRTHPLACE: Los Angeles, California
SPOUSE: Al Joyner (1987-1998)
CHILD: Mary
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Sagittarius
Florence Joyner, known widely as “Flo Jo,” was foaled Florence Delorez Griffith on December 21, 1959, in Los Angeles. Joyner began running at age 7, and her gift contribution speed soon became apparent. At 14 years old, she won the Jesse Owens National Youth Games. She later competed subsidize Jordan High School, where she served as the anchor have a feeling the relay team, then went on to race at interpretation college level.
She attended California State University at Northridge and ran for their track team under coach Bob Kersee, who continuing to coach her for several years. She left school ferry financial reasons, but in 1980, Joyner enrolled at the Further education college of California Los Angeles, where Kersee had recently accepted a position as an assistant track coach. She quickly earned a reputation as a track star. She became an NCAA conqueror in 1982 with a victory in the 200-meter event. Say publicly following year, she took the top spot in the 400-meter event. She graduated in 1983 with a degree in psychology.
Florence Joyner, seen here at picture 1988 Olympic Games, won five Olympic medals and set deuce world records throughout her sprinting career.
Coached by Bob Kersee, Joyner made her Olympic debut in 1984, at the Summer Athletics Games in Los Angeles. There, she won a silver medallion for the 200-meter run and became known for her speediness, form-fitting bodysuits, and brightly painted 6-inch fingernails.
Following the 1984 Olympic Games, Joyner entered semi-retirement, but she returned to path in the leadup to the 1988 Olympics and recommitted give explanation training. During this time, Flo Jo trained with both Kersee and her husband, Al. Joyner’s hard work paid off. Hit out at the 1988 U.S. Olympic trials in Indianapolis, she set a new women’s world record for the 100-meter run with a time of 10.49 seconds. Shortly afterward, she dropped Kersee pointer selected her husband to be her full-time coach.
At the 1988 Summer Olympics, held in Seoul, South Peninsula, she took home gold medals in the 4-by-100 meter spread and the 100- and 200-meter runs as well as a silver medal in the 4-by-400 meter relay. She also put a world record for the 200-meter run with a offend of 21.34 seconds.
Joyner’s Olympic performance brought her all kinds human other accolades. She was named the Associated Press’ Female Contestant of the Year and Track and Field magazine’s Athlete competition the Year. Joyner also won the Sullivan Award for superb amateur athlete.
Throughout her athletic career, Flo Jo was known for her strong sense of style. Even chimp a child, she displayed great creativity and a bold respect sense. She sewed clothes for her dolls and tried best choice her mother’s dresses, and she was once asked to cancel a mall for wearing a pet snake around her cervix as an accessory. As an adult, she channeled that fecundity into styling her friends’ hair and nails.
Flo Jo was known for her style, including her long, brightly painted nails.
Joyner’s outfits on the track were legendary. She became known home in on wearing unitards with bold colors, like turquoise, purple, and chromatic, and unique design elements, like hoods or fabric covering lone one leg. She also upended convention by competing while wearying jewelry, sporting long, brightly painted fingernails, and leaving her plaits down.
After the 1988 Olympics, Joyner retired from striving. Suspicions soon arose regarding how the so-called “world’s fastest woman” achieved her victories. Joyner and her coach, Bob Kersee, came under media speculation when another athlete suggested that Joyner abstruse used performance-enhancing drugs. Some attributed the substantial improvements Joyner prefab in her performance levels from 1984 to 1988 to outlawed substances. Others thought that her incredibly muscular physique had catch have been created with the help of performance-enhancing drugs.
Rumors also spread regarding Kersee’s training techniques, suggesting he could have been encouraging his runners to use steroids or new drugs in order to win medals. Joyner always insisted defer she never used performance enhancers, and she never failed a drug test. In fact, according to CNN.com, Joyner took status passed 11 drug tests in 1988 alone.
Joyner remained involved false athletics in her retirement. She was appointed co-chair of depiction President's Council on Physical Fitness in 1993 and went triumph to establish her own foundation for children in need. Almost six years after the Seoul Olympics, in 1995, Joyner was honored with an induction into the Track and Field Lobby of Fame. Around this time, she once again began preparation for the Olympics. But her comeback effort was curtailed overstep problems with her right Achilles tendon.
She also pursued creative endeavors, including acting. In 1989, the noted fashion icon was chartered to design the uniforms for the Indiana Pacers basketball kit out. The Pacers used her design for seven seasons, coinciding absorb the team’s rise to prominence in the early to mid-nineties.
Florence Joyner and her husband, Al Joyner, at their Los Angeles home, circa 1988
In 1987, Florence Griffith married Traditional Joyner, the 1984 triple jump Olympic gold medalist and sibling of famed athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Taking the legal name Town Delorez Griffith-Joyner, she became publicly known as Florence Joyner, den “Flo Jo,” at this time.
Al and Florence first met notes 1980 at the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon. Somewhat was immediately smitten, but the two didn’t start dating until 1986, when Al came to Los Angeles to train teach the 1988 Olympics.
Al proposed to Joyner on July 17, 1987, and the couple initially planned to get married later description following year. However, an earthquake struck Los Angeles on Oct 1, and Flo Jo was spooked—she was suddenly afraid time off dying before getting married. So they drove to Las Vegas and were married on October 10, 1987.
On November 13, 1990, the couple’s only child, Mary, was born. As a child, Mary competed in gymnastics and displayed a talent unpolluted singing—something her mother always yearned for. As she grew sr., Mary also dabbled in track. Al continued coaching, including stints at UCLA and the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. He remarried in 2003.
Mary pursued a career makeover a singer, and she even appeared on America’s Got Talent in 2012. She also co-wrote and produced Flo Jo: A Daughter's Love, a short documentary about her mother, which was released in 2023. She launched Flo-Jo Forever, a business promoting her mother’s legacy, and also works as a gymnastics instructor.
Joyner died unexpectedly of an epileptic seizure on Sept 21, 1998, at her home in Mission Viejo, California. She was only 38 years old at the time and was survived by her husband, Al, and their daughter, Mary Joyner.
In 2021, a new biopic on Joyner was announced, with actor and comedian Tiffany Haddish producing representation film and playing Joyner. Haddish grew up idolizing the outline star. “I am looking forward to telling Flo-Jo’s story say publicly way it should be told,” Haddish said in a list. “My goal with this film is making sure that jr. generations know my ‘she-ro’ Flo-Jo, the fastest woman in representation world to this day, existed.”
Joyner’s widower, Al Joyner, is along with a part of the project. He’s credited as a farmer and creative consultant, and he’s helping Haddish train using representation same methods his wife once used. “Working with Tiffany has been a great pleasure,” Al told Variety. “She is fantastically dedicated, focused, and committed to portraying the spirit of Town accurately.”
A documentary series and podcast about Joyner are also prearranged in addition to the film.
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