2265 E 103rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90002, United States
Florence Griffith Joyner graduated from Jordan High School in Los Angeles in 1978.
College/University
Gallery of Florence Joyner
18111 Nordhoff St, Northridge, CA 91330, United States
In 1978, Griffith Joyner enrolled at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), but dropped out in 1979 to help support her struggling family financially.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States
Griffith Joyner enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1980.
Career
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1982
Los Angeles, California, United States
Florence Griffith Joyner poses for a portrait in Los Angeles, California.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1984
3911 Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90037, United States
Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States prepares for the Women's 200 metres event at the United States Olympic Trials on June 20, 1984 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, United States.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1984
3911 Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90037, United States
Valerie Brisco-Hooks and Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States wave the Stars and Stripes flag and celebrate finishing first and second in the women's 200 metres event at the XXIII Olympic Summer Games on August 9, 1984 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, United States.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1987
Viale dei Gladiatori, 00135 Rome RM, Italy
Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States wearing the hooded speed skating body suit prepares to run in the women's 200 metres final event at the 2nd IAAF World Athletics Championships on September 3, 1987 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1987
Olympischer Platz 3, 14053 Berlin, Germany
Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States prepares for the women's 200 metres event at the Internationales Stadionfest track meet on August 21, 1987 at the Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1988
Seoul, South Korea
Florence Griffith Joyner celebrates after winning the 100m meter final at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1988
25 Olympic-ro, Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States running to win the gold medal in the women's 100 metres final event during the XXIV Summer Olympic Games on September 25, 1988 at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1988
Seoul, South Korea
Florence Griffith Joyner overcomes with emotion after receiving a gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1988
Seoul, South Korea
Florence Griffith Joyner celebrates her 100m win during the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1988
Seoul, South Korea
Florence Griffith Joyner waits for the baton during the 4x100 metres relay event at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1988
Seoul, South Korea
Florence Griffith Joyner waves to the crowd as she celebrates setting a new Olympic record to win the gold medal in the women's 100 meters dash final during the 1988 Summer Olympic Games on September 28, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1988
Florence Griffith Joyner waves to the crowd during the 1988 Olympic Trials on July 23, 1988.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1988
25 Olympic-ro, Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States celebrates winning gold in the women's 100 metres final on September 24, 1988 during the XXIV Olympic Games at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1988
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Florence Griffith Joyner competes during the 200m at the 1988 United States Track and Field Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1988
Los Angeles, California, United States
Olympic gold medallist Florence Griffith Joyner during a training run on February 1, 1988 in Los Angeles, California, United States.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1988
Los Angeles, California, United States
Olympic and IAAF World Championship Gold medal-winning sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States during a training run on February 1, 1988 in Los Angeles, California, United States.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1988
25 Olympic-ro, Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Florence Griffith Joyner sinks to her knees on the track after crossing the finish line in the first place to win the gold medal in world record time in the final of the women's 200 metres event at the 1988 Summer Olympics inside the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea on September 29, 1988.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1988
Los Angeles, California, United States
World and Olympic athletics champion Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States runs the track on April 4, 1988 in Los Angeles, California, United States.
Gallery of Florence Joyner
1997
Los Angeles, California, United States
Portrait of American track and field athlete Florence Griffith Joyner
Gallery of Florence Joyner
Los Angeles, California, United States
Florence Griffith Joyner poses for a portrait in Los Angeles, California.
Achievements
1988
Olympian Florence Griffith Joyner during a photo shot displaying her three gold medals and one silver on April 26, 1988 that she received at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
3911 Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90037, United States
Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States prepares for the Women's 200 metres event at the United States Olympic Trials on June 20, 1984 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, United States.
3911 Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90037, United States
Valerie Brisco-Hooks and Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States wave the Stars and Stripes flag and celebrate finishing first and second in the women's 200 metres event at the XXIII Olympic Summer Games on August 9, 1984 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, United States.
Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States wearing the hooded speed skating body suit prepares to run in the women's 200 metres final event at the 2nd IAAF World Athletics Championships on September 3, 1987 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy.
Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States prepares for the women's 200 metres event at the Internationales Stadionfest track meet on August 21, 1987 at the Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany.
Olympian Florence Griffith Joyner during a photo shot displaying her three gold medals and one silver on April 26, 1988 that she received at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
25 Olympic-ro, Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States running to win the gold medal in the women's 100 metres final event during the XXIV Summer Olympic Games on September 25, 1988 at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea.
Florence Griffith Joyner waves to the crowd as she celebrates setting a new Olympic record to win the gold medal in the women's 100 meters dash final during the 1988 Summer Olympic Games on September 28, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea.
25 Olympic-ro, Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States celebrates winning gold in the women's 100 metres final on September 24, 1988 during the XXIV Olympic Games at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea.
Olympic and IAAF World Championship Gold medal-winning sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States during a training run on February 1, 1988 in Los Angeles, California, United States.
25 Olympic-ro, Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Florence Griffith Joyner sinks to her knees on the track after crossing the finish line in the first place to win the gold medal in world record time in the final of the women's 200 metres event at the 1988 Summer Olympics inside the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea on September 29, 1988.
World and Olympic athletics champion Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States runs the track on April 4, 1988 in Los Angeles, California, United States.
18111 Nordhoff St, Northridge, CA 91330, United States
In 1978, Griffith Joyner enrolled at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), but dropped out in 1979 to help support her struggling family financially.
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Florence Griffith Joyner was an American sprinter who set world records in the 100 metres (10.49 seconds) and 200 metres (21.34 seconds) that have stood since 1988. During the late 1980s, she became a famous figure in international track and field because of her record-setting performances and flashy style.
Background
Griffith Joyner was born Delorez Florence Griffith on December 21, 1959 in Los Angeles, California, United States, the seventh of eleven children. Her father, Robert Griffith, worked as an electrical contractor, and her mother, Florence Griffith, was a teacher.
Education
When Florence was 4 years old, her mother, also named Florence Griffith, left her husband and the house in California's Mojave Desert, taking the kids to live in a public housing project in the impoverished Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Griffith Joyner began racing competitively at the age of seven. She also developed an interest in fashion that would become her trademark. Once her unusual style got her into trouble; she was kicked out of a shopping mall for wearing her boa constrictor pet as an accessory.
On visits to the desert, where her father still lived, she kept in shape for running by chasing jackrabbits. She actually managed to catch one or two, she recalled.
The elder Florence Griffith kept her family together with strict rules and weekly family meetings she called "powwows." At these gatherings, the mother and her children would reflect on the events of the week and use stories from the Bible as examples for how they could improve themselves. Griffith Joyner studied the Bible and prayed through adulthood. She credited her mother for keeping all her children away from the drugs and violence that ruined the lives of many of their neighbors.
After graduating from Jordan High School in Los Angeles in 1978, Griffith Joyner enrolled at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), but dropped out in 1979 to help support her struggling family financially. She also had to drop running as a sport. She took a job as a bank teller and there she would have remained if not for the efforts of her coach at CSUN, Bob Kersee. Kersee helped her find financial aid so she could return to school. When Kersee took the coaching job at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in 1980, Griffith Joyner went with him. There she continued to build a reputation as an outstanding sprinter. She graduated from UCLA in 1983 with a degree in psychology.
Griffith Joyner excelled at track and field at high school. She set school records in the sprints and the long jump and attracted the attention of Bob Kersee, an assistant track coach at California State University, Northridge. She was good enough in track to be invited to the United States Olympic Trials in 1980 and almost made the team in the 200-meter race. At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) she continued to improve and even became a national champion. In her senior year, she won the 1982 NCAA Championship in the 200 meters with a time of 22.39 seconds. She began to wear bright, full-length bodysuits and to grow her nails unusually long.
In 1984, she earned a spot on the United State Olympic team and then at the Los Angeles Olympics finished second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.04. Though she was proud to win an Olympic silver medal, she was disappointed not to have won the gold medal and she was left off the sprint relay teams because she would not cut her fingernails. After the Olympics, she cut down her training, got a full-time job, and gained 15 pounds. It seemed that her career as a sprinter was over.
Though it appeared that she was losing interest in track and field, those around her would not let her quit. By 1986, she was back to training in earnest.
The next year was pivotal for Griffith Joyner. After placing second in the 200 meters at the World Championships in Rome, she realized she was very close to becoming one of the best sprinters in the world. She pushed herself even harder. She went into the weight room and developed her upper and lower body, while at the same time relaxing while she ran to allow her muscles to work better.
Her rededication on the track and new peace of mind off the track showed at the 1988 United States Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. In the first qualifying heat of the 100-meter dash, Griffith Joyner clocked a world-record time of 10.60. Though the record did not count because of a strong tailwind, the incredible time, vividly painted nails, and the green one-legged bodysuit announced the arrival of a new kind of track and field athlete.
In the next qualifying heat with a new bodysuit and nails redone, Griffith Joyner beat her previous time with a 10.49 - two world records in two hours. Officials checked the wind gauge and found the instrument showed a reading of 0.0. The record would stand. The next day she proved her times were not just a result of favorable winds. She won the semifinal with a time of 10.70 and destroyed the best sprinters in the world with a time of 10.61 in the final. In two days, Griffith Joyner had broken the world record in the women's 100-meter dash on four separate occasions. In the 200-meter Griffith Joyner set a new United States record at 21.77 in the semi-finals and then won the finals with a time of 21.85. She also raced in an all-white bodysuit accented with lace, which she called "athletic negligee."
All the stunning times at the trials and the daring outfits that accompanied her races brought massive attention by the media. By the time the 1988 Olympics began in Seoul, South Korea, she was known to the world as "Flo-Jo." Though Griffith Joyner competed in regulation team uniforms, her times attracted all the attention she would need. In the quarter-finals of the 100-meter, she established a new Olympic record with a time of 10.62. In the 100-meter semi-final, Griffith Joyner would be faced with, her stiffest competition, East German Heike Drechsler. Despite a false start, which forced her to start slowly, Flo-Jo won the race and defeated her rival 10.70 to 10.97. In the 100-meter final, Griffith Joyner exploded out of the blocks to grab the lead and kept it throughout the race. Fifty meters from the end of the race she erupted into a wide smile. At 95 meters she raised her arms in the air and crossed the finish line with a wind-aided 10.54.
But her Olympic triumphs were just beginning. She already held the world record and Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter dash, now she set her sights on the 200-meter. She glided through the qualifying rounds saving her best for the final heat. In the 200-meter final, she established another world record at 21.34 to notch her second gold medal of the 1988 games. She then ran the third leg of the 4 x 100-meter relay and won a third gold medal. Sensing a hot hand, coaches put her on the anchor leg of the 4 x 400-meter relay team. The Soviet team, however, set a new world record, defeating the United States team, which was forced to settle for silver. Griffith Joyner's one silver and three gold medals made her perhaps the most recognized athlete on the planet.
After the Olympics, Griffith Joyner became the most recognizable athlete in the world, but she shocked her fans by retiring abruptly after the games. After the stunning performance at the 1988 Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, many people in the track world began whispering that Griffith Joyner was using steroids. The sudden retirement made the rumors flare up again. But in 1988 alone she passed 11 drug tests.
After her retirement, Griffith Joyner entertained offers and endorsements from all over the world, especially Japan. She coached her husband and had a hand in several projects, most notably fashion design and writing children's books. In 1989, she designed the uniforms for the NBA's Indiana Pacers. As an author of children's books, she wrote a series featuring a character named Barry Bam Bam. Griffith Joyner was featured on television occasionally. After she appeared in the National "Got Milk" ad campaign, she was named an honorary board member of the National Osteoporosis Foundation. In 1996, she attempted a comeback for the Atlanta Olympic Games but found that she had been out of the sport for too long. That year also brought the first warning that Griffith Joyner was human after all. Despite this warning, the woman who had always run fast refused to slow down. She was appointed a co-chair of the President's Council on Physical Fitness. Two years later, her schedule remained just as busy.
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1999
Views
In 1992, Florence Griffith established a charitable organization the Florence Griffith Joyner Youth Foundation. It was organized for all youth that could benefit from receiving encouragement and guidance while seeking to secure their future goals.
Quotations:
"A muscle is like a car. If you want it to run well early in the morning, you have to warm it up."
"When anyone tells me I can't do anything... I'm just not listening anymore."
"The main reason I wanted to be successful was to get out of the ghetto. My parents helped direct my path."
"If you want to run as fast as the men, you've got to train like the men."
"I believe in the impossible because no one else does."
"Conventional is not for me. I like things that are uniquely Flo. I like being different."
"I don't always have the best eating habits. I like butter and ice cream. There are days when I should work out and I don't. But it's never too late to change old habits."
"I love working with kids, talking with them and listening to them. I always encourage kids to reach beyond their dreams. Don't try to be like me. Be better than me."
"I couldn't wait until I grew up. I used to look at my mom's stockings and put them on with her high heels and mess with my hair."
"People want to think that staying in shape costs a lot of money. They couldn't be more wrong. It doesn't cost anything to walk. And it's probably a lot cheaper to go to the corner store and buy vegetables than take a family out for fast food."
"To do justice to a lifelong dream of being a writer, I must give it the intense concentration and focus I gave to track. To do both with excellence is not possible. It is with a sense of sadness and joyous anticipation that I leave track and move on."
"I used to be teased for the way I wore my hair at school. I used to do things like wear a different-colored sock on each leg."
"I was always doing something physical. My brothers and I used to have handstand contests. We'd walk around the projects on our hands and see who could get the farthest. I was always playing football with them, basketball or racing in the street."
"I like being unconventional."
"I don't do drugs. I never have taken any drugs. I don't believe in them."
"That's what I'd like to do on the President's Council. Make sports and athletics available to every youth in America, not just one day a week like it was for me, but every day."
"I have been running since I was 7. I was trying to restructure the way my body was made instead of trying to master the way I ran. I would get so frustrated with my starts in practices that I would just cry. When I ran, I wouldn't even try to get out of the blocks, I would just run."
"I've always overworked in the weight room. I love working with weights. I knew they'd give me the strength I needed."
Membership
Florence Griffith Joyner was co-chairperson and President of the Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
Personality
Florence Griffith Joyner was morally strong. She showed moral fortitude when she continuously focused on her goals. Throughout her career, she never gave up on herself, her fans, or her family.
Despite becoming famous, Florence remained humble yet self-confident. She displayed traits of excellent characters, such as integrity, selflessness, and humility.
Florence Griffith Joyner was hard-working. She gave her full effort on and off the track, especially for the things she wanted to succeed in.
Physical Characteristics:
Florence Griffith Joyner was 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) tall and weighed 126 lb (57 kg).
Griffith Joyner died on September 21, 1998 in her sleep at home. Her unexpected death was investigated by the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner's office, which announced that the cause of death was suffocation during a severe epileptic seizure. Other sources claimed she died of a heart seizure.
Florence had a cavernous hemangioma, a congenital vascular brain abnormality that made Joyner subject to seizures. In 1990, she had suffered a tonic-clonic seizure and had also been treated for seizures in 1993 and 1994.
Interests
music, arts and crafts, sewing, constructing handmade children's mats
Sport & Clubs
track and field
Music & Bands
Anita Baker
Connections
Florence Griffith Joyner was engaged to hurdler Greg Foster. In 1987, she married Al Joyner, whom Griffith had first met at the 1980 Olympic Trials. The couple had a daughter - Mary Ruth Joyner.
Father:
Robert Griffith
Mother:
Florence Griffith
Spouse:
Al Joyner
Daughter:
Mary Ruth Joyner
coach:
Bob Kersee
References
She Persisted: Florence Griffith Joyner
In this chapter book biography by award-winning author Rita Williams-Garcia, readers learn about the amazing life of Florence Griffith Joyner - and how she persisted.