Florence Griffith Joyner

Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner (born Florence Delorez Griffith; December 21, 1959 – September 21, 1998), also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete and the fastest woman ever recorded.

As a high school senior in 1978, she finished sixth at the CIF California State Meet behind future teammates Alice Brown and Pam Marshall.

By the time she graduated from Jordan High School in 1978, she had set high-school records in sprinting and long jump.

Griffith attended the California State University at Northridge, and was on the track team coached by Bob Kersee.

This team, which included Brown and Jeanette Bolden, won the national championship during Griffith's first year of college.

However, Griffith had to drop out to support her family, taking a job as a bank teller.

During the late 1980s, she became a popular figure due to both her record-setting athleticism and eclectic personal style.

Griffith Joyner was born and raised in California.

She was athletic from a young age and began running at track meets as a child.

While attending California State University, Northridge (CSUN), and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), she continued to compete in track and field.

While still in college, she qualified for the 100 m 1980 Olympics but did not compete due to the U.S. boycott.

Kersee found financial aid for her and she returned to college in 1980, this time at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) where Kersee was working as a coach.

Brown, Bolden, and Griffith qualified for the 100-meter final at the trials for the 1980 Summer Olympics (with Brown winning and Griffith finishing last in the final).

Griffith also ran the 200 meters, narrowly finishing fourth, a foot out of a qualifying position.

However, the U.S. Government had already decided to boycott those Olympic Games mooting those results.

In 1983, Griffith graduated from UCLA with her bachelor's degree in psychology.

Griffith finished fourth in the 200-meter sprint at the first World Championship in Athletics in 1983.

In the next year, she qualified for the Olympics in the 200-meter distance with the second fastest time at the United States Olympic Trials, held in Los Angeles.

Evelyn Ashford, another UCLA alumna and early favorite to medal, dropped out of the 200-meter due to injury.

She made her Olympic debut four years later, winning a silver medal in the 200 meter distance at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Griffith went on to win a silver medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics.

After the 1984 Olympic Games, she spent less time running.

Griffith continued to run part-time, winning the 100-meter IAAF Grand Prix Final with the time of 11.00 seconds.

She married Al Joyner, the Olympic triple jump champion of 1984, in 1987.

She did not compete at the 1985 U.S. National Championship.

That same year, she returned to working at a bank and styled hair and nails in her spare time.

She returned to athletics in April 1987.

She set world records in 1988 for the 100 m and 200 m.

At the 1988 U.S. Olympic trials, Griffith set a new world record in the 100 meter sprint.

She went on to win three gold medals at the 1988 Olympics.

In February 1989, Griffith Joyner abruptly retired from athletics.

She remained a pop culture figure through endorsement deals, acting, and designing.

She died in her sleep during an epileptic seizure caused by a birth defect, in 1998 at the age of 38.

Griffith Joyner is buried at the El Toro Memorial Park in Lake Forest.

Griffith was born in Los Angeles, California, the seventh of eleven children born to Robert, an electrician, and Florence Griffith, a seamstress.

The family lived in Littlerock, California, before Florence Griffith moved with her children to the Jordan Downs public housing complex located in the Watts section of Los Angeles.

When Griffith was in elementary school, she joined the Sugar Ray Robinson Organization, running in track meets on weekends.

She won the Jesse Owens National Youth Games two years in a row, at the ages of 14 and 15.

Griffith ran track at Jordan High School in Los Angeles.

Showing an early interest in fashion, Griffith persuaded the members of the track team to wear tights with their uniforms.