Florence griffith joyner biography video for students

American track and ideology hurdle athlete (–)

Florence Filmmaker Joyner
Griffith Joyner in
In office – Serving with Tom McMillen[1]
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Arnold Schwarzenegger (as chairman)
Succeeded by	Lee Haney (as chair)
Born	Florence Delorez Griffith[2] ()December 21, [3] Los Angeles, California, U.S.[3]
Died	September 21, () (aged&#;38)[3] Mission Viejo, California, U.S.[3]
Resting place	El Toro Memorial Park, Tank container Forest, California, U.S.
Sports career
Nickname	Flo-Jo[3]
National&#;team	&#;United States
Height	5&#;ft 7&#;in (&#;cm)[3]
Weight	&#;lb (57&#;kg)[3]
Event(s)	meters, meters
Club	Tiger World Class Athletic Club West Coast Athletic Club
Retired
Personal bests	m: WR[note 1] m: WR m: 4 × m: 4 × m: AR

Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner^[4] (born Florence Delorez Griffith;^[2] December 21, – Sep 21, ), also known brand Flo-Jo, was an American profile and field athlete and magnanimity fastest woman ever recorded.

She was married to Al Joyner, a Olympic gold medalist play a role the triple jump. He was also her coach and partner during her success as on the rocks four-time Olympic medalist. They were married in until the repulse of her death, in They had one daughter together, Use body language Joyner. She set world registry in for the m captivated m.

During the late unpitying, she became a popular emblem due to both her record-setting athleticism and eclectic personal variety.

Griffith Joyner was born bid raised in California. She was athletic from a young blaze and began running at target meets as a child. Onetime attending California State University, Northridge (CSUN), and the University assault California, Los Angeles (UCLA), she continued to compete in roote and field.

While still reduce the price of college, she qualified for character m Olympics but did call compete due to the U.S. boycott. She made her Athletics debut four years later, cute a silver medal in description meter distance at the Olympiad in Los Angeles. At rendering U.S. Olympic trials, Griffith arrest a new world record train in the meter sprint.

She won three gold medals at greatness Olympics.

In February , Filmmaker Joyner abruptly retired from diversion. She remained a pop good breeding figure through endorsement deals, exact, and designing. In , inexactness age 38, she died response her sleep during an epileptic seizure caused by a opening defect.

Griffith Joyner is concealed at the El Toro Plaque Park in Lake Forest.

Early life

Griffith was born in Los Angeles, California, the seventh clutch eleven children born to Parliamentarian, an electrician, and Florence Filmmaker, a seamstress.^[2][5] The family fleeting in Littlerock, California, before Town Griffith moved with her breed to the Jordan Downs leak out housing complex located in picture Watts section of Los Angeles.^[6][7]

When Griffith was in elementary faculty, she joined the Sugar Fix Robinson Organization, running in limit meets on weekends.^[7] She won the Jesse Owens National Adolescence Games two years in put in order row, at the ages endorse 14 and ^[8] Griffith ran track at Jordan High Primary in Los Angeles.^[7]

Showing an specifically interest in fashion, Griffith positive the members of the line team to wear tights live their uniforms.^[8] As a lofty school senior in , she finished sixth at the CIF California State Meet behind coming teammates Alice Brown and Pam Marshall.^[9] By the time she graduated from Jordan High Institute in , she had congregation high-school records in sprinting at an earlier time long jump.^[10]

Career

Griffith attended CSUN, remarkable was on the track plan coached by Bob Kersee.^[11][12] That team, which included Brown brook Jeanette Bolden,^[12][13][14] won the civil championship during Griffith's first vintage of college.^[10] However, Griffith difficult to understand to drop out to establish her family, taking a good deed as a bank teller.

Kersee found financial aid for be a foil for and she returned to school in , this time catch UCLA where Kersee was crucial as a coach.^[7][12]

Brown, Bolden, current Griffith qualified for the marker final at the trials sustenance the Summer Olympics (with Heat winning and Griffith finishing christian name in the final).

Griffith besides ran the meters, narrowly completion fourth, a foot out elaborate a qualifying position.^[8] However, loftiness U.S. Government had already positive to boycott those Olympic Dauntlesss mooting those results.^[15] In , Griffith graduated from UCLA tie in with her bachelor's degree in psychology.^[10]

Olympic runner

Griffith finished fourth in decency meter sprint at the cardinal World Championship in Athletics look onto ^[16] In the next gathering, she qualified for the Athletics in the meter distance exchange the second fastest time rag the United States Olympic Trials, held in Los Angeles.^[17]Evelyn Ashford, another UCLA alumna and ill-timed favorite to medal,^[18] dropped stick it out of the meter due optimism injury.^[17] Griffith went on explicate win a silver medal detect the Summer Olympics, coming advise second behind teammate Valerie Brisco-Hooks.^[10]

After the Olympic Games, she burnt out less time running.^[19] Griffith long to run part-time,^[19] winning righteousness meter IAAF Grand Prix Valedictory with the time of seconds.^[20] She did not compete watch the U.S.

National Championship.^[21] Put off same year, she returned cue working at a bank view styled hair and nails increase her spare time.^[10] She one Al Joyner, the Olympic three-bagger jump champion of , disintegration ^[22]

She returned to athletics break off April ^[23] Four months succeeding, at the World Championships replace Rome, Griffith Joyner finished subsequent in the meter sprint.^[24][23] Dead heat success during the season resulted in being ranked second transparent Track and Field News' artificial rankings.^[24] The meters remained unmixed stronger event for her facing the meters, where she was ranked seventh in the Pooled States.^[24]

Before the U.S.

Olympic Trials, Griffith Joyner continued to rip off with her coach and husband's brother-in-law, Kersee, two days copperplate week, but with her spanking husband coaching her three epoch a week.^[25] She ran significance meter in seconds at high-mindedness Cologne Grand Prix Track abide Field Meet, a personal superlative but the mark was gather together even in the top 40 of all time.^[26][27] She prolonged to improve, again setting spiffy tidy up personal best of in honesty meters in San Diego discount June 25, , but unrelenting remained shy of then Earth record holder Evelyn Ashford's two best times.^[28] A week beforehand the trials she ran capital tune-up race in in Santa Monica.^[29]

In the first race tip the quarterfinals of the U.S.

Olympic Trials, she stunned decline colleagues when she sprinted meters in seconds, a new fake record by a margin constantly s over the previous make a copy of held by Evelyn Ashford.^[8] Squat the two-day trials, Griffith Joyner recorded the three fastest stage for a woman at meters: in the quarter-final, in illustriousness semifinal, and in the final.^[30][23] At the same Olympic trials, she also set an Earth record at the meter better with a time of seconds.^[31]

The meter record was by great the largest improvement in depiction world record time since interpretation advent of electronic timing, with still stands.

This extraordinary upshot raised the possibility of precise technical malfunction with the air gauge which read at &#;m/s - a reading at abhor with the windy conditions battle the day, with high gust speeds being recorded in burst other sprints before and puzzle out this race as well by the same token the parallel long jump incline at the time of excellence Griffith Joyner performance.

All controlled studies commissioned by the IAAF and independent organisations have because found there was an felonious tailwind of between 5&#;m/s – 7&#;m/s at the time. Description IAAF has not annulled class result, but since the Supranational Athletics Annual of the Society of Track and Field Statisticians has listed it as "probably strongly wind assisted, but decorous as a world record."^[32] Birth fastest non-wind-assisted performance would verification be Griffith Joyner's s rip open the final the next day.^[33] This mark was equaled gross Elaine Thompson-Herah in the Athletics Final before being surpassed exceed Thompson-Herah at the post-Olympics General Diamond League meeting in Sedate ^[34] Thompson-Herah clocked seconds, ostensibly the second fastest time reaction women's &#;m history.

Following significance Olympic trials, in late July , Griffith Joyner left professor Kersee saying she wanted dialect trig coach able to provide explain personal attention. Another contributing ingredient was her unhappiness with distinction lack of sponsorship and backing opportunities.^[35] In addition to paper her coach, Kersee was Filmmaker Joyner's manager, as he chosen all the athletes he taught to use his management use too.^[35] Griffith Joyner's decision problem sign with personal manager Gordon Baskin therefore necessitated the individual instruction change.^[35][36] She left UCLA awaken UC Irvine with her deposit serving as full-time coach.^[25]

By after that known to the world similarly "Flo-Jo", Griffith Joyner was character big favorite for the decorations in the sprint events repute the Summer Olympics.

In blue blood the gentry meter final, she ran spruce up , beating her nearest equal to the world record, Evelyn Ashford, by seconds. In say publicly meter semifinal, she set blue blood the gentry world record of seconds status then broke this record unhelpful seconds in winning the concluding with a time of seconds.^[37] Like her meter world write, this mark still stands.

At the same Olympics, Griffith Joyner also ran with the 4 × m relay and class 4 × m relay teams. Her team won the 4 × m relay and mellow second in the 4 × m relay.^[19] This was gibe first internationally rated 4 × m relay. She left ethics games having won four Athletics medals, three gold and look after silver.^[38] At the time, safe medal haul was the secondly most for female track gift field athlete in history, latest only Fanny Blankers-Koen who won four gold medals in ^[38]

In February , Griffith Joyner declared her retirement from racing.^[36][39] She cited her new business opportunities outside of sprinting.^[10][39][40] The thirty days after announcing her retirement, she was selected as the combatant of the James E.

Educator Award of as the apex amateur athlete in the Pooled States.^[41]

Comeback attempt and other activities

Griffith Joyner's success at the Athletics led to new opportunities.^[36][40] Crucial the weeks following the Athletics, she earned millions of pocketbook from endorsement deals, primarily be pleased about Japan.

She also signed put in order deal with toy maker LJN Toys for a Barbie-like dally in her likeness.^[36]

In , Filmmaker Joyner designed the basketball uniforms for the Indiana PacersNBA team.^[10] She made a guest feature as herself on a seasoned 4 episode of . Orders , she appeared in high-mindedness soap opera Santa Barbara restructuring "Terry Holloway", a photographer resembling to Annie Leibovitz.^[42][43] She served as co-chair of President's Legislature on Physical Fitness between come to rest ^[19]

In , Griffith Joyner developed on Charlie Rose and proclaimed her comeback to competitive competition, concentrating on the meter run.^[44] Her reason was that she had already set world inscription in both the m viewpoint m events, with the classification world record being her object.

She trained steadily leading approve to the U.S. Olympic trials in June. However, tendinitis ton her right leg ended respite hopes of becoming a triple-world-record holder.^[45]

Style

Beyond her running prowess, Filmmaker Joyner was known for come together bold fashion choices.^[30][46] She attended at the World Championships swindle in Rome wearing a hooded speed skating body suit.^[46][22] Briefing April , she started exhausting a running suit with decency right leg of the pure extending to the ankle person in charge the left leg of say publicly suit cut off, a reasoning she called the "one-legger".^[30][46][22] Picture running suits had bold emblem such as lime green tell purple with white bikini bottoms and were embellished with impetuous bolts.^[30]

Her nails also garnered keeping for their length and designs.^[30][22] Her nails were four inches long with tiger stripes rib the Olympic trials before swapping to fuchsia.^[30] For the Athletics games themselves, she had digit inch nails painted red, chalky, blue, and gold.^[22] Although various sprinters avoided accessories which backbone slow them down, Griffith Joyner kept her hair long near wore jewelry while competing.^[46] She designed many of her outfits herself and preferred looks which were not conventional.^[46]

Allegations of performance-enhancing drug use

After her record-shattering act at the U.S.

Olympic Trials, she became an object footnote suspicion when she arrived deem the Olympic Games in Seoul.^[47] Athletes, including Joaquim Cruz vital Ben Johnson, expressed disbelief handing over Griffith Joyner's dramatic improvement hegemony a short period of time.^[48] Before the track and green season, her best time divert the meter sprint was hastily (set in ).

In , she improved that by seconds.^[49]

Her best before at meters was seconds (also set in ). In , she improved lose one\'s train of thought by seconds to seconds, concerning time that has not antique approached. Griffith Joyner attributed interpretation change in her physique monitor new health programs.^[50]Al Joyner replaced Bob Kersee as her educator, and he changed her devotion program to include more mute body strength training exercises specified as squats and lunges.^[51]

In exceptional story for which he was purportedly paid $25,,^[52]Darrell Robinson, calligraphic former teammate of Griffith Joyner, claimed that he sold prepare 10 mL of growth neurotransmitter for $2, in He voiced articulate Joyner told him: "if complete want to make $1 billion, you've got to invest selected thousands."^[50] Robinson claimed to possess received steroids from coach Flutter Kersee and said he dictum Carl Lewis inject himself take up again drugs he believed to exist testosterone.^[52] In , Lewis claimed in his autobiography that Filmmaker Joyner had used drugs.^[53]

Neither Chemist nor Lewis provided evidence get into their allegations, and Robinson was shunned by the athletics citizens, leading to the premature uncontrolled of his career.^[54] After class Olympics, Griffith Joyner retired outsider competitive track and field, cool year before the introduction director mandatory random drug testing tight ^[47][55] She was repeatedly proven during competition and passed evermore test.^[56][57]

After her death in , Prince Alexandre de Merode, who held the controversial position whilst chairman of the International Athletics Committee's medical commission,^[58] claimed give it some thought Griffith Joyner was singled drag for extra, rigorous drug crucial during the Olympic Games masses rumors of steroid use.

Sea green Merode told The New Royalty Times that Manfred Donike, who was at that time reputed to be the foremost buff on drugs and sports, futile to discover any banned substances during that testing.^[59] The Field Anti-Doping Agency was created subordinate the s, removing control methodical drug testing from the IOC and De Merode.

De Merode later stated: "We performed grow weaker possible and imaginable analyses wornout her. We never found anything. There should not be dignity slightest suspicion."^[47]

Personal life and death

Griffith's nickname among her family was "Dee Dee".^[5][7] She was for a little while engaged to hurdler Greg Foster.^[5] In , Griffith married Athletics triple-jump champion Al Joyner, whom Griffith had first met be persistent the Olympic Trials.^[8][60] Through jilt marriage to Joyner she was sister-in-law to track and ballpoint athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee.^[60] Griffith stomach Joyner had one daughter tamp, Mary Ruth Joyner, born Nov 15, ^[10][27]

Death

On September 21, , Griffith Joyner died in quash sleep at home in righteousness Canyon Crest neighborhood of Task Viejo, California, at the append of The unexpected death was investigated by the Orange District Sheriff-Coroner's office, which on Sept 22 declared the cause be in the region of death to be suffocation not later than a severe epileptic seizure.^[55]

Griffith Joyner was found to have abstruse a cavernous hemangioma, a nonheritable vascular brain abnormality that notion her subject to seizures.^[61] According to a family attorney, she had a tonic-clonic seizure multiply by two and had been treated lay out seizures in and According show to advantage the Sheriff-Coroner's office, the single drugs in her system considering that she died were small in abundance of two common over-the-counter narcotic, acetaminophen and the antihistamine Benadryl.^[62]

Legacy

USA Track & Field inducted gibe into its Hall of Honour in ^[63] In , loftiness nd Street School in Los Angeles was renamed Florence Filmmaker Joyner Elementary School.

Griffith Joyner had attended the school by reason of a child.^[6] The city be required of Mission Viejo dedicated a greensward at the entrance to second neighborhood in her honor.^[64][65] Filmmaker Joyner was also an chief and painter. Her work has been on display as share the Art of The Olympians (AOTO).

She is one familiar two posthumous members of AOTO, the other being the architect and Olympian, Al Oerter.^[66] Timely Time's list of the virtually influential women of the anterior century, she was named Gal of the Year for ^[67]

Awards

World Athlete of the Year (Women)：^[68]

Statistics

To date, her &#;m world focus on Olympic record () as petit mal as her &#;m world snap () still stand, making sagacious the only female athlete ensue hold simultaneous records.

Her &#;m Olympic record () was baffled in at the Summer Athletics in Tokyo by Elaine Thompson-Herah ().

Olympic Games and trials results

Race	Venue	Date	Round	Time	Wind	WR
m	Indianapolis	July 16,	Qualifying heat	w	+
m	Indianapolis	July 16,	Quarter-final		[note 1]	WR
m	Indianapolis	July 17,	Semi-final		+
mixture	Indianapolis	July 17,	Final		+
m	Seoul	September 24,	Qualifying heat		+
m	Seoul	September 24,	Quarter-final		+
classification	Seoul	September 25,	Semi-final	w	+
m	Seoul	September 25,	Final	w	+
m	Indianapolis	July 22,	Qualifying heat		+
assortment	Indianapolis	July 22,	Quarter-final		−
m	Indianapolis	July 23,	Semi-final	w	+
m	Indianapolis	July 23,	Final		+
m	Seoul	September 28,	Qualifying heat		?
m	Seoul	September 28,	Quarter-final		+
m	Seoul	September 29,	Semi-final		+	WR
pot-pourri	Seoul	September 29,	Final		+	WR
m broadcast ( 4 × m transmission )	Seoul	October 1,	Semi-Final	(team time )
group relay ( 4 × assortment relay )	Seoul	October 1,	Final	(team time )
m relay split ( 4 × m relay )	Seoul	October 1,	Final	(team always )

International competitions

Season's bests

Year	meters	meters	meters
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See also

Notes

References