Remembering Olympic gold medalist Florence 'Flo-Jo' Griffith Joyner
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Florence Griffith-Joyner celebrates with her gold medal after winning the Women's 100 meters final event during the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.Tony Duffy / Allsport/Getty Images -
Florence Griffith-Joyner celebrates winning gold in the Women's 100 meters final event during the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.Mike Powell / Allsport/Getty Images -
Griffith Joyner displays her medals from the 1988 Summer Olympic Games. She won gold in the Women's 100, 200 and 4x100 meters relay and silver for the 200 meters.Tony Duffy / Allsport/Getty Images
Twenty-five years ago, Olympic gold medalist Florence Griffith Joyner, better known as "Flo-Jo," died in her sleep.
Known for her style — long painted nails and colorful one-legged running suits — Griffith Joyner was also celebrated for being the fastest woman to run the 100 meter and 200 meter sprints.
The 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul
Griffith Joyner broke the 100 meter world record with a time of 10.49 seconds during the Olympic qualifiers in 1988.
Griffith Joyner broke the 200 meter world record during the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Griffith Joyner, Gwen Torrence and Evelyn Ashford were teammates for the USA Team and wore red and white leotards. Griffith Joyner was in lane five, wearing a gold bracelet on each wrist and gold earrings.
At the start of the race, as the camera focused on her face, she smiled. She crossed the finish line in 21.34 seconds to take the gold medal and set a new world record in the process. When the race was over, she kneeled on the ground and pressed her hands into the track, her long red, white, blue and gold-painted nails visible to the world.
Griffith Joyner won two more gold medals at the Seoul Olympics — in the 100 meter and the 4 x 100 meter relay events — and became a household name.
Her success helped her land endorsement deals in Japan as well as acting parts and cameos on American television — including the soap opera "Santa Barbara" and the sitcom "227." Griffith Joyner worked with LJN Toys, who marketed a doll in her likeness — long painted nails and one-legged running suit included.
Griffith Joyner's style and speed brought her international fame, but her performance at the Olympics would some become clouded by skepticism. A year after the games, in 1989, a former American track athlete named Darrell Robinson told a European magazine that Griffith Joyner gave him money to buy her growth hormones.
Griffith Joyner denied the allegations, and told the New York Times, "It's all fabricated lies about drugs. I'd be a fool to take drugs."
In 1998, sports commentator John Feinstein told NPR's Morning Edition, "The rumors were there in 1988 in Seoul and I think the first thing to point out is that she never tested positive," he said.
"But she became a star late. She was 28 years old then ... Those rumors are always going to be there, and they were something she was asked about throughout her career, and which she always denied."
The medical commission for the International Olympic Committee says it conducted rigorous drug testing on Griffith Joyner during the 1988 Olympics — and she always tested negative.
Griffith Joyner spoke with journalist Ann Liguori in 1991 about the allegations: "I knew that I had never taken drugs so I didn't let that bother me when people said. I knew that it was a thing that was in the news," she said.
"People were looking for things to point fingers at athletes. I just tried not to take it personal and to just concentrate on the things I had to do and to move on."
Griffith Joyner retires from track
On Feb. 22, 1989, five months after the Olympic games in Seoul, Griffith Joyner announced her retirement from track.
When discussing her retirement with Liguori, Griffith Joyner said, "I retired in 1989 because I could no longer train 100%, in which I'm used to training. If I can't give it my all, I don't want to give it at all."
Griffith Joyner moved on with her life. She became a mom, pursued fashion design and continued to combine sports and style. She even designed the 1990 NBA uniforms for the Indiana Pacers.
Griffith Joyner also served as the first female co-chair of the U.S. President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports — a federal advisory committee to promote health and physical activity — under former President Bill Clinton. At the White House in 1994, Griffith Joyner spoke about the importance of physical fitness.
"All of us have sometimes mouthed the excuse that we're just too busy, that we don't have the time to exercise or be physically active," she said.
"Well, if our busiest citizen, President Clinton, can make the time to run regularly, and become physically active, then I know there are ways for each one of us can find the time and make the time."
Flo-Jo's legacy
Griffith Joyner made an attempt to compete in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. But an injury prevented her from qualifying — and she never competed in the Olympics again.
Two years later, Griffith Joyner died from an epileptic seizure caused by an abnormality of blood vessels in her brain.
After she died, allegations of performance-enhancing drugs resurfaced.
The IOC medical commission president Prince Alexandre de Merode released a statement about Florence Griffith Joyner after her death: "We performed all possible and imaginable analyses on her. We never found anything. There should not be the slightest suspicion."
Today, Griffith Joyner is enshrined as one of the greatest athletes in track for revolutionizing women's sprinting with both her speed and her fashion. And more than 35 years after her victories at the summer games in South Korea, she still holds the world records for the 100 and 200 meter sprints.
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Transcript
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Twenty-five years ago today, Olympic gold medalist Florence Griffith Joyner, better known as Flo-Jo, died suddenly in her sleep. She's one of the most decorated Olympic female sprinters in American history, and she's celebrated for her speed and style - six-inch painted nails and colorful one-legged running suits. NPR's Ashley Montgomery has this remembrance.
ASHLEY MONTGOMERY, BYLINE: The 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. In the packed Olympic Stadium, Florence Griffith Joyner prepares for the 200-meter sprint. She's the one in lane five, wearing a gold bracelet on each wrist and gold earrings. Griffith Joyner and the other sprinters crouch down, put their feet in the starting blocks, and then...
(SOUNDBITE OF GUN FIRING)
MONTGOMERY: ...Griffith Joyner burst away from the other sprinters. She is so fast.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER: First goal, and here she comes.
MONTGOMERY: As the camera focuses on her face, she starts to smile. She glides across the finish line, easily winning gold.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER: Florence Griffith Joyner.
MONTGOMERY: She kneels on the ground and presses her hands into the track, her long red, white, blue and gold-painted nails visible to the world. Griffith Joyner beats the world record for the 200-meter sprint with 21.34 seconds. That record still stands today.
(SOUNDBITE OF AD)
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) She can fly like the wind. She can really go. She's Flo-Jo.
MONTGOMERY: She lands endorsement deals in Japan as well as acting parts in cameos on American TV. She even works with LJN Toys, who markets a doll in her likeness, long painted nails and one-legged running suit included.
(SOUNDBITE OF AD)
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) Flo-Jo.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: The Flo-Jo doll comes with one outfit and Flo-Jo nail decals.
MONTGOMERY: But there was skepticism about her performance at the Olympics. A year after the Games in 1989, a former American track athlete named Darrell Robinson told a European magazine that Griffith Joyner gave him money to buy her growth hormones. Griffith Joyner denied the allegations and told The New York Times, quote, "it's all fabricated lies about drugs. I'd be a fool to take drugs." Here's sports commentator John Feinstein on NPR's Morning Edition in 1998.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
JOHN FEINSTEIN: In sports, especially Olympic sports, those rumors are always going to be there. And they were something she was asked about throughout her career and which she always denied.
MONTGOMERY: The medical commission for the International Olympic Committee, better known as the IOC, says it conducted rigorous drug testing on Griffith Joyner during the 1988 Olympics, and she turned up clean.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
FLORENCE GRIFFITH JOYNER: I knew that I have never taken drugs, so I didn't let that bother me what people said. I knew that it was...
MONTGOMERY: Here's Griffith Joyner speaking with journalist Ann Liguori in 1991.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GRIFFITH JOYNER: I just tried not to take it personal and to move on.
MONTGOMERY: And so she did. Just five months after the Olympic Games in Seoul, Griffith Joyner retired from track. She became a mom. She pursued fashion design. She served as the first female co-chair of the U.S. President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. And she continued to combine sports and style.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GRIFFITH JOYNER: Hi. I'm Florence Griffith Joyner, and the only place you can find the new Pacers uniforms is here.
MONTGOMERY: She even designed the NBA uniforms for the Indiana Pacers. Griffith Joyner did make an attempt to compete in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, but her return from retirement was short-lived. An injury prevented her from qualifying, and she never competed in the Olympics again. Two years later, on September 21, 25 years ago today, Griffith Joyner died from an epileptic seizure caused by an abnormality of blood vessels in her brain. She was 38 years old. Today, Griffith Joyner is enshrined as one of the greatest athletes in track. She revolutionized women's sprinting with her speed and fashion. Here she is speaking to NPR after the Seoul Olympics.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
GRIFFITH JOYNER: Getting down in those starting blocks and just hearing all the people cheering for me - that gave me extra energy. And everyone here has been extraordinarily nice to me, kind to me and treated me with great respect.
MONTGOMERY: Florence Griffith Joyner still holds the world records for the 100- and 200-meter sprints.
Ashley Montgomery, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF SWIFTLY'S "STILL FALLS THE RAIN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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