She never failed a drug test.Īfter the Olympics, Joyner appeared on television talk shows and on the covers of national and international magazines she was also a commentator for various sports events. After the Olympics, there was a rumor that Griffith Joyner might be using steroids-a rumor she vehemently denied, vowing that she was opposed to the use of performance-enhancing drugs. She won her third gold medal running the third leg of the 400-meter relay and a silver medal in the 1600-meter relay. In the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, in September 1988, Griffith Joyner continued to rewrite the track and field record books she set an Olympic record for the 100 meters, winning the gold medal she broke the world record twice in the 200 meters, winning the gold medal in 21.34 seconds. She said that she needed full-time attention, and, in addition, Kersee's percentage of her earnings was too high. A few weeks after the Olympic trials, Griffith Joyner fired Kersee and replaced him as trainer with her husband. She attributed her success to the discovery that she could attain greater speed by relaxing more as well as to her track outfits, with their high-cut legs and low-cut tops, that gave her freer movement. There she ran the four fastest 100 meters in women's track history. ![]() Olympic Trials at Indiana University-Purdue University–Indianapolis in July 1988. Griffith Joyner prepared for the Olympics by participating in four races at the U.S. She left her bank job to work part-time in employee relations for Anheuser-Busch so that she would have more time to train. To improve her performance, she stepped up her daily regimen to include sprint workouts and 3.7-mile runs, and, four days a week, weight-training sessions and partial squats with 320-pound weights on her shoulders. Second best was not good enough for Griffith Joyner. At the 1987 World Championship Games in Rome, she won a silver medal and popularized the hooded running uniform, which was later incorporated into the 1988 U.S. In preparation for the 1988 Olympics, following a strict training regimen, Griffith Joyner got her weight back to 130 pounds. She married Al Joyner on 10 October 1987 they had one daughter. In 1987 she sought the help of Kersee to train for the 1988 Olympic Trials. With her training schedule severely cut, she gained weight. Upset after winning only a silver medal in the 200 meters in the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, she stopped competing and became a customer service representative for the Union Bank in Los Angeles during the day and a beautician at night. Competing against top American runners, Griffith Joyner won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship in the 200 meters in 1982 and the 400 meters in 1983. ![]() In 1980 she followed Kersee to University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) to pursue a track career. Bob Kersee, her track coach, encouraged her to return to school and helped her secure financial aid. Griffith Joyner entered California State University at Northridge in 1978, dropping out after her freshman year. Graduating from Jordan High School in 1978, not only had she set school records in sprinting and the long jump, but she had begun to forge her own unique colorful style in clothing, hairstyles, and fingernail decorations. When she was fourteen, she won first place for two consecutive years at the annual Jesse Owens National Youth Games. In elementary and junior high school, Griffith Joyner competed in the 50- and 70-meter dashes at events held by the Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation for disadvantaged youth. She chased jackrabbits to improve her speed. When visiting her father in the Mojave Desert, She said that she ran because she could just "get in the wind" and because it helped her to stand out from her siblings. Griffith Joyner began running track at age seven at the 92nd Street Elementary School. ![]() Mother and children moved from the Mojave Desert, where the Griffith family had been living, to the Jordan Downs housing project in the Watts section of Los Angeles. The seventh of eleven children, Griffith Joyner was four when her parents, Robert, an electronics technician and Florence, a seamstress, divorced. 21 September 1998 in Mission Viejo, California), flamboyant track athlete and champion sprinter who was the first American woman to win four medals in one Olympics. 21 December 1959 in Los Angeles, California d. GRIFFITH JOYNER, Florence Delorez ("Flo Jo")
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