Thursday, 21 November 2024

    Florence Griffith-Joyner

    • Contest: The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Athletes 2024
    • Embed from Getty Images
    • Sport(s): Track & Field
    • Statistics: 1 100 m Olympic Gold Medal (1988)
      1 200 m Olympic Gold Medal (1988)
      1 4x100 m Relay Olympic Gold Medal (1988)
      1 200 m Olympic Silver Medal (1984)
      1 4x400 m Relay Olympic Silver Medal (1988)
      1 4x100 m Relay World Championship Gold Medal (1987)
      1 200 m World Championship Silver Medal (1987)
      1 AP Female Athlete of the Year Award (1988)
      1 James E. Sullivan Award (1988)
      Member of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame
    • While she was still at UCLA, Flo-Jo qualified for the 1980 Olympics Moscow in the 100 m, but she did not compete due to the U.S. boycott. At the 1984 L.A. Games, she won the Silver in the 200 m, but it was four years later where she became the American track darling.

      In Seoul, she shattered the Olympic records in both the 100 m and 200 m, easily winning both Gold Medals. As fast as she was at the Olympics (10.54 wind-assisted), she didn't beat her 10.49 that she set at the Olympic Trials. This gives her the title of the "fastest woman of all-time," and to date, nobody has come close to breaking her record.

      Griffith-Joyner was not just fast, and she was attractive, charismatic, and stylish. She received multiple endorsements and had her own fashion line. Tragically, she died young, at age 38, from a severe epileptic seizure.

      We are proud to nominate Florence Griffith-Joyner for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.
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