Flo Joyner : Are Flo Jo And Jackie Joyner Kersee Related

They are linked forever by their gold medals and therefore the Joyner name. The distinction is, Florence Griffith Joyner represents track and field past, whereas Jackie Joyner-Kersee continues to outline track and field gift.

Flo Jo, 31, was one among a form -- those one-legged outfits, those nails! -- however she retired when winning 3 gold medals within the 1988 Olympics. JJK, 29, intends to compete in Barcelona this summer and Atlanta in 1996, winning the heptathlon and long hop over and yet again.

Flo Jo gave us a short shining moment, JJK offers us an extended storied career. None of this mattered in Seoul, where one sister-in-law clearly overshadowed the opposite. however perhaps this summer America catches on. perhaps this summer JJK gets her due.

She is simply the world's greatest girl athlete, however the common sports fan does not acknowledge her walking down the road. At the instant, JJK still is not as famous as Flo Jo, the glamorous girl who married her brother Al. however slowly that's changing, changing for smart.

"She's amazed by what percentage folks acknowledge her," her husband and coach, Bob Kersee, said yesterday at a news conference for the Feb. nine Mobil one Invitational Track and Field Meet at George Mason University, where Jackie can run the 60-meter high hurdles.

"Everyone is aware of her name. once we get on a flight and she or he plunks down her mastercard, everybody is aware of who Jackie Joyner-Kersee is. And now, developing an escalator in a very shopping center, folks pass her, spin and are available back for an autograph."

"A ton of individuals see me in my athletic wear and assume I weigabout two hundred pounds," said JJK, who is five feet ten and a hundred and fifty five. "When they see me they assert, 'you're tall, however you are petite.' the foremost common factor folks say is, 'You seem like Jackie-Joyner Kersee.' I say, 'Oh, really?' "

JJK connected all this with a smile. Her celebrity is such that shcan still relish it, and as she explained, "I've return an extended manner." Kersee added, "I'm pleased with her place within the public eye." however the very fact is, JJK deserves higher. She ought to be huge, big, big.

Her list of sponsors reads sort of a company Who's Who -McDonald's, Xerox, IBM, etc. -- however she rarely seems in tv commercials, surfacing in public appearances and print advertisements instead. For a black girl, the opportunities are restricted. however that is only 1 clarification.

Track and field remains a fringe sport during this country, except in Olympic years. what is a lot of, JJK's specialty -- the heptathlon -- may be a competition spanning 2 days and 7 events. Not enough sizzle for a nation with an attention span higher suited to Flo Jo's sprints.

Yet, this goes beyond even that. It goes back to Flo Jo, and aissue that ought to not matter in women's sports. the problem is appearance. to listen to some folks tell it when Seoul, Jackie was an unpleasant duckling next to her sister-in-law with the high cheekbones and winning smile.

The notion isn't simply irrelevant, it's inaccurate. "I simply had tunderstand who i'm, recognize who i'm, not let folks hurt me," JJK said. "People wrote unhealthy things regarding me that had never been written before. i could not perceive why.
Ads by Google

EnviroPaving100% Recycled Rubber Surfacing. Driveways pool decks walkways patio www.enviropaving.com

"This friend of mine, an elderly girl [from her native East St. Louis, Ill.], said, 'Jackie, you have been doing this an extended time. do not let folks say you are an unpleasant person. You're not.' They created Florence the glamorous one. i used to be simply this aggressive girl. She said, 'You're stunning too, you have to recollect that.' "

Flo Jo retired to pursue probably lucrative careers in writing and acting, however has nevertheless to regain her grip over the general public. consistent with each Kersees, JJK never harbored any resentment or jealousy. At just the once Bob coached each girls. Their rivalry, he said, was overblown.

Whatever, the question is currently moot. JJK's main concern is recovering from the sprained ankle and hamstring pull she suffered at the planet Championships in Tokyo last September. She won the long jump, however withdrew from the heptathlon, during which she was the defending champion and world record-holder.

"It was disappointing in one sense, enlightening in another," JJK said. "Falling short very was a blessing in disguise. This jTC scenario puts things in perspective. folks see i am a person's being. I will get injured. I perceive, however it makes me hungrier. It makes apply plenty a lot of intense."

She posts notes on her refrigerator and loo mirror as reminders of her next goal -- seven,300 points within the heptathlon, 9 points on top of her current record. She works to boost her media skills, organizes youth programs, operates JJK Associates, a marketing-management company dedicated to community work.

"Barcelona is maybe the amount at the top of the sentence," her husband Bob said, knowing her 1st Olympic medal was a silver within the heptathlon in 1984. "But it's exhausting on behalf of me to mention 'period.' you do not recognize Jackie. It may be a comma. you do not recognize when it's progressing to end. I see her as an Arnold Palmer of women's athletics."

In that case, forget the amount, forget the comma.

Just keep adding exclamation points.