Delorez Florence Griffith (FLO-JO) 1959-1998

Delorez Florence Griffith (FLO-JO) 1959-1998

Delorez Florence Griffith was born on December 21, 1959. At the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, in 1984, she won a silver medal in the 200-meter run. She married fellow athlete Al Joyner, the brother of famed athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Joyner took home three gold medals and a silver medal. Joyner and her coach, Bob Kersee, came under media speculation when rumors spread that she might have been using performance-enhancing drugs to improve her times. Joyner died unexpectedly of heart failure in September 1998, at the age of 31. She still holds the world records in the 100- and 200-meter runs.


EARLY LIFE
Delorez Florence Griffith was born on December 21, 1959, and began running at the age of 7. In 1983, she graduated from high school—where she received several honors for track and field—and began classes at the University of California, Los Angeles.

OLYMPIC MEDALIST AND CONTROVERSY
Coached by Bob Kersee, Florence made her Olympic debut in 1984, at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. There, she won a silver medal for the 200-meter run, and became known for her world-record speed, form-fitting bodysuits and six-inch fingernails. A few years later, in 1987, Florence married fellow athlete Al Joyner, the brother of famed athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and became publicly known as Florence Joyner, or "Flo Jo."
That same year—following a voluntary, three-year break from Olympic training—Joyner began training again for the Games under new coach Bob Kersee, the husband of Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Joyner's hard work paid off at the 1988 Summer Olympics, held in Seoul, South Korea. She took home three gold medals, in the 4-by-100 meter relay, and the 100- and 200-meter runs; as well as a silver medal in the 4-by-400 meter relay. Joyner still holds the world records in the 100- and 200-meter runs, with times of 10.49 seconds and 21.34 seconds, respectively.
Following her 1988 Olympic run, triple gold-medalist Joyner retired, and established a foundation for underprivileged children. Around the same time, Joyner and her coach, Bob Kersee, came under media speculation when another athlete suggested that Joyner's level of improvement from 1984 to 1988, as well as her incredibly muscular physique, were likely due to performance-enhancing drugs. Rumors spread regarding Bob Kersee's training techniques, suggesting that he could have been encouraging his runners to use steroids or other drugs in order to win medals. Joyner insisted that she never used performance enhancers, however, and she never failed a drug test.

LEGACY AND DEATH
Nearly six years after the Seoul Olympics, in 1995, Joyner was honored with an induction into the Track and Field Hall of Fame. She was also named the The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year for 1988, won the Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete, and served for a time as co-chair of the President's Council on Physical Fitness.
Joyner died unexpectedly of heart failure on September 21, 1998, at age 31. She was survived by her husband and their daughter, Mary Joyner.