The Tragedy Of Florence Griffith Joyner's Death
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.
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00:00Florence Griffith Joyner left a mark on the athletic world that has yet to be matched.
00:04Sadly, she won't be here to see when her world record is finally broken.
00:09It's taken track and field sprinters over 35 years to even begin to catch up to Joyner's
00:14world-record-breaking speed in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Joyner, famously nicknamed
00:20Flo-Jo, not only won three Olympic gold medals and one silver medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics,
00:26she annihilated the competition and made a permanent mark in sports and history.
00:31Flashy and instantly recognizable by her colorful nails and leotards, the International Olympic
00:36Committee said it best with the proclamation,
00:38There will never be another athlete quite like Flo-Jo.
00:42Florence Griffith Joyner was the epitome of beauty, strength,
00:45power, and speed all rolled up into one woman."
00:48And yet, Joyner died young. In 1998, a mere 10 years after her Olympic dominance,
00:54she suffered an epileptic seizure in her sleep and suffocated.
00:57She had an extremely rare condition called cavernous angioma, born by a mere 0.4 percent
01:03of the population, which causes blood to fill spaces around blood vessels in the brain and
01:08spinal column. Tragically, all it took to end her life was a turned neck and some blankets and
01:13pillows. The path to Joyner's early end was also tainted by accusations of performance-enhancing
01:19drug use. According to CNN, Joyner dismissed these allegations as jealousy, and she even
01:25passed 11 drug tests the year of her Olympic victories. Nonetheless, these rumors followed
01:30her through her 1993 appointment to the President's Council on Physical Fitness
01:35and 1995 induction into the Track and Field Hall of Fame. Sadly, in the end,
01:40these ventures, too, got cut short.
01:42Well after her passing, Joyner's impact on society is still felt throughout the athletic world.
01:48Modern track and fielders expected to exceed her 10.49-second 100-meter dash and 21.34-second
01:55200-meter dash records long before the present. Sha'Carri Richardson came close at 10.65 seconds,
02:02but Joyner's record still stands. As Joyner's husband Al told AP News,
02:07the legacy she has left that she didn't even know she was leaving is her dreams have become
02:12many, many girls' dreams. Though she was taken young, Joyner did live a full and impactful life
02:17both on and off the track. As Biography outlines, she got involved in a whole bunch of ventures
02:22during her post-Olympic career. In addition to being appointed co-chair of the President's
02:27Council on Physical Fitness, Joyner also founded the Florence Griffith Joyner Youth Foundation,
02:32committed to assisting and guiding young people in need. Additionally,
02:36she designed new uniforms for the Indiana Pacers, tried her hand at acting, and more.
02:41Given her eclectic lifestyle and immense physical fitness, the sudden nature of Joyner's death
02:46reignited allegations that had followed the Olympic champion for her entire career.
02:50At her physical peak in the late 80s, some claimed that Joyner's physique and skills
02:55came from performance-enhancing drugs. However, Joyner insisted her strength came from healthy
03:00eating, vitamins, and exercise. As her husband and trainer said to CNN,
03:05"'I trained her like a man. We did a lot of things then that they do now with nutrition.
03:09The things that separated her were mental focus and toughness.'"
03:13Nevertheless, Joyner's autopsy indicated potential complications from human growth hormone,
03:18including oversized organs that might have led to her aneurysm.
03:22All such results were inconclusive, but still threatened to mar the former Olympian's legacy
03:27in name. The matter of performance-enhancing drugs continues to come up in conversation
03:32about Joyner, and while she can't defend herself from the grave, others can.
03:36As Al Joyner said of her autopsy,
03:39"'My wife passed the ultimate drugs test.'"