Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Jackie Joyner

Jackie Joyner-Kersee in 2014
Personal information
Nationality	American
Born	(1962-03-03) March 3, 1962 East St. Louis, Illinois
Height	178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	66 kg (146 lb)
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Long jump, heptathlon
Club	Tiger World Class Athletic Club West Coast Athletic Club McDonald's Track Club
Medal record Competitor for the  United States Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Heptathlon 1988 Seoul Long jump 1992 Barcelona Heptathlon 1984 Los Angeles Heptathlon 1992 Barcelona Long jump 1996 Atlanta Long jump World Championships 1987 Rome Long jump 1987 Rome Heptathlon 1991 Tokyo Long jump 1993 Stuttgart Heptathlon Pan American Games 1987 Indianapolis Long jump

Jacqueline "Jackie" Joyner-Kersee (born March 3, 1962) is an American retired track and field athlete, ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the women's heptathlon as well as in the women's long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals, in those two events at four different Olympic Games. Sports Illustrated for Women magazine voted Joyner-Kersee the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th century, just ahead of Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

After retiring as a competitive athlete, Joyner-Kersee has been involved with many philanthropic efforts and has joined the Board of Directors for USA Track & Field (USATF), the national governing body of the sport.^[1]

Joyner-Kersee was one of the most famous athletes to overcome severe asthma.^[2]

Early life

Jacqueline Joyner was born March 3, 1962, in East St. Louis, Illinois, and was named after Jackie Kennedy. As a high school athlete at East St. Louis Lincoln Senior High School, she qualified for the finals in the long jump at the 1980 Olympic Trials, finishing 8th behind another high schooler, Carol Lewis.^[3] She was inspired to compete in multi-disciplinary track & field events after seeing a 1975 made-for-TV movie about Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Interestingly, Didrikson, the trackster, basketball player, and pro golfer, was chosen the "Greatest Female Athlete of the First Half of the 20th Century. Fifteen years later, "Sports Illustrated for Women" magazine voted Joyner-Kersee the greatest female athlete of "all time".

UCLA

Joyner-Kersee attended college at the University of California at Los Angeles, where she starred in both track & field and in women's basketball from 1980-1985. She was a starter in her forward position for each of her first three seasons (1980–81, 81-82, and 82-83) as well as in her senior (fifth) year, 1984-1985. She had red-shirted during the 1983-1984 academic year to concentrate on the heptathlon for the 1984 Summer Olympics.

She scored 1,167 points during her collegiate career, which places her 19th all time for the Bruins games.^[4] The Bruins advanced to the West Regional semi-finals of the

1996 USA Olympic Track & Field Team Qualification 1996 United States Olympic Trials (track and field) Men's track & road athletes Derrick Adkins Brad Barquis Keith Brantly Bryan Bronson Andrzej Chylinski Curt Clausen Mark Coogan Mark Crear Mark Croghan Calvin Davis Marc Davis Bruce Deacon Jon Drummond Robert Gary Johnny Gray Matt Giusto Tim Harden Alvin Harrison Brian Hyde Allen James Allen Johnson Michael Johnson Bob Kempainen Bob Kennedy Michael Marsh Anthuan Maybank Dan Middleman Derek Mills Dennis Mitchell Tim Montgomery Herman Nelson José Parrilla Jason Pyrah Butch Reynolds Brandon Rock Jason Rouser Lamont Smith Jim Spivey Eugene Swift Jeff Williams Todd Williams Men's field athletes Charles Austin Randy Barnes Ed Broxterman Mike Conley, Sr. Lance Deal Steve Fritz John Godina Joe Greene Kenny Harrison Jeff Hartwig Robert Howard Chris Huffins Scott Huffman C. J. Hunter Lawrence Johnson Carl Lewis Kevin McMahon Dan O'Brien Ken Popejoy Mike Powell Tom Pukstys Todd Riech Adam Setliff Dave Stephens Anthony Washington Cameron Wright Women's track & road athletes Olga Appell Kim Batten Tonja Buford-Bailey Joetta Clark Gail Devers Sandra Farmer-Patrick Suzy Favor Hamilton Kate Fonshell Chryste Gaines Kim Graham Carlette Guidry Juli Henner D'Andre Hill Vicki Huber Regina Jacobs Lynn Jennings Maicel Malone Jearl Miles Inger Miller Joan Nesbit Meredith Rainey Amy Rudolph Mary Slaney Rochelle Stevens Lynda Tolbert-Goode Gwen Torrence Linetta Wilson Dannette Young Women's field athletes Amy Acuff Valeyta Althouse Lacy Barnes-Mileham Kelly Blair Nicole Carroll Sharon Hanson Aretha Hill Sheila Hudson Jackie Joyner-Kersee Diana Orrange Ramona Pagel Suzy Powell Connie Price-Smith Cynthea Rhodes Connie Teaberry Marieke Veltman Tisha Waller Erica Wheeler Shana Williams Coaches —

1984 USA Olympic Track & Field Team Qualification 1984 United States Olympic Trials (track and field) Men's track & road athletes Ray Armstead Alonzo Babers Kirk Baptiste Ron Brown Tonie Campbell Don Clary Paul Cummings Brian Diemer Marco Evoniuk Greg Foster Sam Graddy Johnny Gray John Gregorek Danny Harris Tranel Hawkins Jim Heiring Thomas Jefferson Earl Jones Roger Kingdom Steve Lacy Carl Lewis Henry Marsh John Marshall Antonio McKay Walter McCoy Edwin Moses Sunder Nix Daniel O'Connor Vince O'Sullivan Doug Padilla Pete Pfitzinger Pat Porter Alberto Salazar Carl Schueler Steve Scott Calvin Smith Willie Smith Jim Spivey John Tuttle Craig Virgin Men's field athletes Duncan Atwood Willie Banks Earl Bell Tim Bright Edward Burke Art Burns Michael Carter Mike Conley, Sr. John Crist Milton Goode Bill Green Al Joyner Dave Laut Carl Lewis Jud Logan Doug Lytle Mike McRae Larry Myricks Doug Nordquist Tom Petranoff John Powell Steve Roller Dwight Stones Mike Tully Mac Wilkins Augie Wolf Jim Wooding Women's track & road athletes Evelyn Ashford Sharrieffa Barksdale Joan Benoit Jeanette Bolden Cindy Bremser Valerie Brisco-Hooks Alice Brown Judi Brown Julie Brown Robin Campbell Chandra Cheeseborough Mary Decker Diane Dixon Benita Fitzgerald-Brown Kim Gallagher Randy Givens Florence Griffith Joyner Joan Hansen Denean Howard Sherri Howard Julie Isphording Missy Kane Lillie Leatherwood Pam Page Diana Richburg Kim Turner Angela Wright-Scott Ruth Wysocki Women's field athletes Jodi Anderson Carol Cady Laura De Snoo Leslie Deniz Cindy Greiner Lorna Griffin Joni Huntley Jackie Joyner Carol Lewis Ramona Pagel Louise Ritter Karin Smith Pam Spencer Lynda Suffin Cathy Sulinski Angela Thacker Coaches —

• Jackie Joyner-Kersee profile at IAAF
• USA Track and Field bio
• Jackie Joyner-Kersee's U.S. Olympic Team bio
• The Jackie Joyner Kersee Foundation, founded by Jackie and her husband.

External links

References

[12] In 1988, Joyner-Kersee established the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation, which provides youth, adults, and families with athletic lessons and the resources to improve their quality of life with special attention directed to East St. Louis, Illinois. In 2007, Jackie Joyner-Kersee along with

Jackie's brother is the Olympic champion triple jumper Al Joyner, who was married to another Olympic track champion, the late Florence Griffith Joyner. Jackie married her track coach, Bob Kersee, in 1986.^[11]

Personal life

• 100 metres hurdles : 12.61 s
• Long jump : 7.49 m (still currently #2 all time, 3 cm behind the world record and she did it twice)
• High jump : 1.93 m
• 200 m : 22.30 s
• Shot put : 16.84 m
• Javelin throw : 50.12 m
• 800 m : 2 min 8.51 s

Personal bests

Personal bests

Joyner-Kersee has consistently maintained that she has competed throughout her career without performance-enhancing drugs.^[9][10]

Sports Illustrated voted her the greatest female athlete of the 20th century.

As of April 2015, Joyner-Kersee holds the world record in heptathlon along with the top six all time best results whilst her long jump record of 7.49 m is second on the long jump all time list. In addition to heptathlon and long jump, she was a world class athlete in 100 m hurdles and 200 meters being as of June 2006 in top 60 all time in those events.

Current world records

• 1986 Jesse Owens Award^[7]
• 1987 Jesse Owens Award^[7]
• 2000 St. Louis Walk of Fame inductee.^[8]
• 2010 NCAA Silver Anniversary Awards honoree.
• 2011 Dick Enberg Award, College Sports Information Director of America (CoSIDA)

Awards and honors

Joyner-Kersee made her final bow in track & field competition in 2000. She was sixth in the long jump (21-10.75) at the Olympic Trials.

2000 Olympic Trials

Returning to track, Joyner-Kersee won the heptathlon again at the 1998 Goodwill Games, scoring 6,502 points.

1998 Goodwill Games

In 1996 Joyner-Kersee signed on to play pro basketball for the Richmond Rage of the fledgling American Basketball League. Although she was very popular with the fans, she was less successful on the court. She appeared in only 17 games, and scored no more than four points in any game.

Professional Basketball Career

 in) was long enough for her to win the bronze medal. The Atlanta Olympics would be the last Olympics of Joyner-Kersee's long competitive career. ₂⁄¹ 11 At the Olympic Trials, Joyner-Kersee sustained an injury to her right hamstring. When the

1996 Summer Olympics

In the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, Joyner-Kersee earned her second Olympic gold medal in the heptathlon. She also won the bronze medal in the long jump which was won by her friend Heike Drechsler of Germany.

1992 Summer Olympics

Joyner-Kersee was everyone's favorite to retain both her World titles earned four years earlier in Rome. However her challenge was dramatically halted when, having won the long jump easily with a 7.32 m (24 ft ¹⁄₄ in) jump no one would beat, she slipped on the take off board and careened head first into the pit, avoiding serious injury. She did, however, strain a hamstring, which led to her having to pull out of the heptathlon during the 200 m at the end of the first day.

1991 World Championships

In the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, Joyner-Kersee earned gold medals in both the heptathlon and the long jump. At the 1988 Games in Seoul, she set the still-standing heptathlon world record of 7,291 points. The silver and bronze medalists were Sabine John and Anke Vater-Behmer, both of whom were representing East Germany. Five days later, Joyner-Kersee won her second gold medal, leaping to an Olympic record of 7.40 m (24 ft 3 ¹⁄₄ in) in the long jump.

1988 Summer Olympics

Joyner-Kersee was the first woman to score over 7,000 points in a heptathlon event (during the 1986 Goodwill Games). In 1986, she received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.

1986 Goodwill Games

Joyner-Kersee competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and won the silver medal in the heptathlon. She was the favorite heading into the event, but finished 5 points behind Australian Glynis Nunn.

1984 Summer Olympics

Competition

She was honored on February 21, 1998 as one of the 15 greatest players in UCLA women's basketball.^[5] In April 2001, Joyner-Kersee was voted the "Top Woman Collegiate Athlete of the Past 25 Years." The vote was conducted among the 976 NCAA member schools.^[6]

[4]