Florence Griffith Joyner left a mark on the athletic world
that has yet to be matched.
Sadly, she won't be here to see when her world
record is finally broken.
It's taken track and field sprinters over 35 years to
even begin to catch up to Joyner's world record-breaking speed
in the 100 and 200 meter dashes.
Joyner, famously nicknamed Flojo, not only won 3 Olympic gold
medals and won silver medal in the
1988 Seoul Olympics, she annihilated the competition and made a
permanent mark in sports and history.
Flashy and instantly recognizable by her colorful nails and leotards.
The International Olympic Committee said it best with the proclamation.
There will never be another athlete quite like Flojo.
Florence Grifford Joyner was the epitome of beauty,
strength, power and speed all rolled up into one woman.
And yet, Joyner died young in
1998, a mere 10 years after her Olympic dominance.
She suffered an epileptic seizure in her sleep and suffocated.
She had an extremely rare condition called cavernous angioma,
borne by a mere .4%
of the population, which causes blood to fill spaces around
blood vessels in the brain and spinal column.
Tragically, all it took to end her life was a
turned neck and some blankets and pillows.
The path to Joyner's early end was also tainted by
accusations of performance enhancing drug use.
According to CNNN, Joyner dismissed these allegations as jealousy and
she even passed 11 drug tests the year of her
Olympic victories.
Nonetheless, these rumors followed her through her
1993 appointment to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and
1995 induction into the Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Sadly, in the end, these ventures too got cut short.
Well after her passing, Joyner's impact on society is still
felt throughout the athletic world.
Modern track and fielders expected to exceed her
10.49 second 100 meter dash and
21.34 second 200 meter dash records long before the present
Shakari Richardson and came close at
10.65 seconds. But Joyner's record still stands.
As Joyner's husband Al told AP News,
the legacy she has left that she didn't even know
she was leaving is her dreams have become many,
many girls dreams. Though she was taken young,
Joyner did live a full and impactful life both on
and off the track.
As biography outlines, she got involved in a whole bunch
of ventures during her post Olympic career.
In addition to being appointed Co chair of the
President's Council on Physical Fitness,
Joyner also founded did the Florence Griffith Joyner Youth Foundation,
committed to assisting and guiding young people in need.
Additionally, she designed new uniforms for the Indiana Pacers,
tried her hand at acting,
and more. Given her eclectic lifestyle and immense physical fitness,
the sudden nature of Joyner's death reignited allegations that had
followed the Olympic champion for her entire career.
At her physical peak in the late 80s,
some claimed that Joyner's physique and skills came from performance
enhancing drugs.
However, Joyner insisted her strength came from healthy eating,
vitamins and exercise, as her husband and trainer said to
CNN.
I trained her like a man.
We did a lot of things then that they do
now with nutrition.
The things that separated her were mental focus and toughness.
Nevertheless, Joyner's autopsy indicated potential complications from human growth hormone,
including oversized organs, that might have led to her aneurysm.
All such results were inconclusive,
but still threatened to mar the former Olympians legacy and
name.
The matter of performance enhancing drugs continues to come up
in conversation about Joyner,
and while she can't defend herself from the grave,
others can. As Al Joyner said of her autopsy.
My wife passed the ultimate drugs test.