Jackie Joyner- Kersee

1. JackieJoyner-Kersee Known for: Dominance in women's track and field. Considered by many to be the best all-around female athlete in the world. Sport: Track and field. Specialties: long jump, heptathlon.

2. Also known as: Jacqueline Joyner, Jackie Joyner, Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee, Jackie Kersee Country Represented: USA Olympics: XXIII Olympiad, Los Angeles, California, USA, 1984, Athletics/USA XXIV Olympiad, Seoul, Korea, 1988, Athletics/USA XXV Olympiad, Barcelona, Spain, 1992, Athletics/USA XXVI Olympiad, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 1996, Athletics/USA

3. Records:Silver Medal, Women's Heptathlon, XXIII Olympiad, Los Angeles, California, USA, 1984 Gold Medal, Women's Heptathlon, XXIV Olympiad, Seoul, Korea, 1988 Gold Medal, Women's Long Jump, XXIV Olympiad, Seoul, Korea, 1988 Gold Medal, Women's Heptathlon, XXV Olympiad, Barcelona, Spain, 1992 Bronze Medal, Women's Long Jump, XXV Olympiad, Barcelona, Spain, 1992 Bronze Medal, Women's Long Jump, XXVI Olympiad, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 1996 ….

4. More Records:Gold Medal, Women's Heptathlon, 2nd IAAF World Championships, Rome, Italy, 1987 Gold Medal, Women's Long Jump, 2nd IAAF World Championships, Rome, Italy, 1987 Gold Medal, Women's Long Jump, 3rd IAAF World Championships, Tokyo, Japan, 1991 Gold Medal, Women's Heptathlon, 4th IAAF World Championships, Stuttgart, Germany, 1993 Jackie Joyner-Kersee posted the six highest scores ever earned in the heptathlon. Her top score is 7,291, for the gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea.

5. Olympics:XXIII Olympiad, Los Angeles, California, USA, 1984, Athletics/USA XXIV Olympiad, Seoul, Korea, 1988, Athletics/USA XXV Olympiad, Barcelona, Spain, 1992, Athletics/USA XXVI Olympiad, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 1996, Athletics/USA Organizations:Founding Athlete, Athletes for HopeFounder, the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation

6. Background, Family:Mother: Mary Joyner, nurse's aide Father: Alfred Joyner, Sr., construction, railroad Older brother, Alfredrick (Al), Olympic Gold medalist (triple jump, 1984), husband of the late Florence Griffith Joyner; two younger sisters, Angela and Deborah. Marriage: husband Bob Kersee (married January 11, 1986; track and field coach - Jackie's coach at UCLA and the one who helped her develop her multi-event talent)

7. Education: The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) / B.A., history (minor: mass communications) / 1985

8. More About Jackie Joyner-Kersee:Jackie Joyner-Kersee was born in 1962 in East St. Louis, Illinois. She is the second child and eldest daughter of Alfred and Mary Joyner. Her parents were still in their teens at the time, and struggled to provide for their growing family. They cristened their first daughter Jacquiline after then-first-lady Jacqueline Kennedy. The family story is that one of her grandmothers had declared that "Some day this girl will be the first lady of something."

9. As a child, Jackie was growing up too fast for Mary, who knew the difficulty of life as a teenage mother. Jackie has said that "even at 10 or 12, I was a hot, fast little cheerleader." Mary told Jackie and her older brother, Al, that they couldn't date until they were 18. Jackie and Al focused on athletics instead of dating. Jackie enrolled in the new track program at the local Mary Brown Community Center, where she had been studying modern dance.

10. Jackie and Al, who went on to win gold at the 1984 Olympics and marry star runner Florence Griffith, became each other's training partners and support. Al Joyner recalls that "I remember Jackie and me crying together in a back room in that house, swearing that someday we were going to make it. Make it out. Make things different."

11. BY. HANNAH ABBOTT 