She took home three gold medals, in the 4-by-100 meter relay, and the 100- and 200-meter runs as well as a silver medal in the 4-by-400 meter relay.
Joyner’s hard work paid off at the 1988 Summer Olympics, held in Seoul, South Korea. Before long, however, she began training again for the 1988 Olympic Games under Bob Kersee, the husband of Jackie Joyner-Kersee. She had taken a break from competing after the 1984 Olympics and had just decided to re-enter racing. A few years later, in 1987, Florence married fellow athlete Al Joyner, the brother of famed athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee (taking the legal name Florence Delorez Griffith-Joyner, she became publicly known as Florence Joyner, or “Flo Jo,” at this time).Īround this time, Joyner selected her husband to serve as a coach, dropping Kersee. There, she won a silver medal for the 200-meter run, and became known for her world-record speed, form-fitting bodysuits and six-inch fingernails. The following year, she took the top spot in the 400 meter Coached by Bob Kersee, Joyner made her Olympic debut in 1984, at the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. She became a NCAA champion in 1982 with a victory in the 200-meter event. She later competed for Jordan High School, where she served as the anchor on the relay team, and then went on to race at the college level.Īfter attending California State University at Northridge, Joyner transferred to the University of California Los Angeles, where she quickly earned a reputation as a track star. At the age of 14, she won the Jesse Owens National Youth Games. Joyner began running at the age of 7, and her gift for speed soon became apparent. Olympian Florence Joyner, known widely as “Flo Jo,” was born Florence Delorez Griffith on December 21, 1959, in Los Angeles, California, and went on to become one of the fastest competitive runners of the 1980s. She still holds the world records in the 100- and 200-meter events. Joyner died unexpectedly in September 1998, at age 38, after suffering an epileptic seizure. She and her coach, Bob Kersee, came under media speculation when rumors spread that she might have been using performance-enhancing drugs to improve her times. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Joyner took home three gold medals and a silver. She married fellow athlete Al Joyner, the brother of famed athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee. At the 1984 Summer Olympics, Joyner won a silver medal in the 200-meter run. Florence Joyner, also known as “Flo Jo,” was born in Los Angeles, California, on December 21, 1959.
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