50 Fun Facts About Florence Griffith Joyner

What was Florence Griffith Joyner's famous nickname?

Her family called her 'Dee Dee'; the world knew her by the shortened form by the time she reached the 1988 Olympics.

What still-standing 100 m world record did Griffith Joyner run at the 1988 US Olympic trials?

It beat Evelyn Ashford's record by 0.27 seconds, by far the biggest improvement since electronic timing began.

What was Griffith Joyner's world-record time in the 200 metres final at the 1988 Olympics?

She had set a world record of 21.56 in the semi-final earlier the same day and then took another 0.22 off it.

In which city were the 1988 Summer Olympics, where she won three golds, held?

Fellow athletes including Ben Johnson voiced disbelief at her sudden improvement when she arrived there.

How many Olympic medals did Griffith Joyner win in total at the 1988 Games?

At the time only Fanny Blankers-Koen, with four golds in 1948, had a bigger haul for a female track and field athlete.

In which relay did Griffith Joyner win her only silver at the 1988 Olympics?

It was her first internationally rated 4 x 400; her 4 x 100 team took gold.

By how much did she beat Evelyn Ashford in the 1988 Olympic 100 metres final, which she won in 10.54?

Ashford, a fellow UCLA alumna, had held the world record before the 1988 trials.

What did the wind gauge read during her record trials run, despite the windy conditions?

Studies have since estimated an illegal tailwind of 5 to 7 m/s; the IAAF never annulled the mark but statisticians list it as 'probably strongly wind assisted'.

Which sprinter equalled Griffith Joyner's 10.61 in the 2020 Olympic 100 m final and beat it in Eugene in 2021?

The 10.61 came in the 1988 trials final, the day after her record; over two days she ran the three fastest women's 100 metres ever.

In which Los Angeles neighbourhood's Jordan Downs public housing complex did Griffith grow up?

She was the seventh child of an electrician and a seamstress and ran for Jordan High School.

How many children were in the Griffith family, of whom Florence was the seventh?

Her father Robert was an electrician and her mother, also called Florence, a seamstress.

Which athletics event for young people did she win two years running at ages 14 and 15?

She had started running at weekend track meets with the Sugar Ray Robinson Organization while still in elementary school.

What job did Griffith take when she had to drop out of college to support her family?

Her coach found her financial aid and she returned to college at UCLA in 1980, later styling hair and nails in her spare time.

In what subject did Griffith graduate from UCLA in 1983?

She had begun at California State University, Northridge, before following Kersee to UCLA.

Why did Griffith not compete at the 1980 Olympics after reaching the 100 metres final at the US trials?

She finished last in that trials final and a foot outside a qualifying place in the 200, but the results were moot anyway.

Which teammate beat Griffith to 200 m gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics?

Ashford, an early favourite, had withdrawn from the 200 with an injury.

In which city did Griffith Joyner take 200 metres silver at the 1987 World Championships?

That season put her second in the Track and Field News world rankings, though she was only seventh in the US over 100 metres.

What was her 100 metres personal best before the 1988 season, a time not even in the top 40 of all time?

She improved it by 0.47 seconds in a single year, which fuelled the doping suspicions.

Whom did Griffith marry in 1987?

They had met at the 1980 Olympic trials; she had earlier been briefly engaged to hurdler Greg Foster.

In which California city is Griffith Joyner buried, at El Toro Memorial Park?

She had died at home in nearby Mission Viejo, whose city later dedicated a park at the entrance to her neighbourhood.

Which coach did Griffith Joyner leave in July 1988, saying she wanted more personal attention?

He also required his athletes to use his management services; she signed with manager Gordon Baskin and moved to UC Irvine with her husband as full-time coach.

What did Griffith Joyner call her April 1988 running suit with one leg to the ankle and the other cut off?

The suits came in lime green and purple with white bikini bottoms and lightning bolts; she designed most of her outfits herself.

How long were her nails at the 1988 Olympic Games, painted red, white, blue and gold?

At the trials they had been four inches long with tiger stripes before she switched to fuchsia.

What unusual garment did she wear at the 1987 World Championships?

Unlike most sprinters she also kept her hair long and wore jewellery while racing.

What did the teenage Griffith persuade her high-school track team to wear with their uniforms?

By graduation from Jordan High in 1978 she held school records in sprints and the long jump.

In which month and year did Griffith Joyner abruptly announce her retirement from racing?

It came days before a vote by The Athletic Congress to introduce mandatory random year-round drug testing.

Which honour for the top US amateur athlete did she receive for 1988, the month after retiring?

She also took the 1988 World Athletics Award for women.

In which country did most of her lucrative post-Olympic endorsement deals come from?

She also signed with LJN Toys for a Barbie-like doll in her likeness.

For which NBA team did Griffith Joyner design the uniforms in 1989?

The same year she played herself in an episode of the sitcom 227.

In which soap opera did she appear in 1992 as a photographer named Terry Holloway?

The character was modelled on Annie Leibovitz.

Which presidential body did she co-chair from 1993 to 1998?

She was also a painter whose work is displayed by the Art of the Olympians.

In which event did she plan a comeback, announced on Charlie Rose in 1996?

She wanted a third world record but tendinitis in her right leg ended the attempt before the trials.

How old was Griffith Joyner when she died in her sleep in September 1998?

The Orange County coroner ruled she suffocated during a severe epileptic seizure at her home in Mission Viejo.

What congenital condition, found after her death, predisposed her to seizures?

She had suffered a seizure in 1990 and been treated for others in 1993 and 1994; only small amounts of paracetamol and Benadryl were in her system.

Which former teammate claimed in 1989 that he had sold Griffith Joyner human growth hormone for $2,000?

He offered no evidence and was shunned by the sport; Carl Lewis made his own unproven allegation in his 1990 autobiography.

What did IOC medical chairman Prince Alexandre de Merode say after her death about her extra 1988 drug tests?

The tests were run by Manfred Donike, then the leading expert on drugs in sport; she passed every competition test she took.

What was Griffith Joyner's personal motto?

It grew out of her family's motto, 'if you try, try again'.

What was the name of the daughter Griffith Joyner and Al Joyner had in November 1990?

Mary later described her mother as a calm spirit who 'brought everybody together'.

In which year was Griffith Joyner inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame?

Mission Viejo dedicated a park in her honour, and she is one of two posthumous members of the Art of the Olympians.

Which Los Angeles elementary that she attended as a child was renamed after her in 2000?

Time magazine later named her its Woman of the Year for 1988 in a 2020 list of the century's most influential women.

By how many seconds did Florence Griffith Joyner win the 1988 Olympic 200 metres final?

Grace Jackson took silver, missing the old world record by a hundredth of a second and still not looking in contention.

What US record did Griffith Joyner set in the 200 metres at the 1988 Olympic trials?

It signalled she could take on the East Germans who had dominated the sprints for a decade.

What was Griffith Joyner's nickname among her own family?

The world knew her as Flo-Jo, but at home she was Dee Dee; her family motto was 'if you try, try again'.

To which hurdler was Griffith briefly engaged before marrying Al Joyner?

She first met Al Joyner at the 1980 Olympic trials, and their 1987 marriage made her sister-in-law to Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

On which sitcom did Griffith Joyner make a fourth-season guest appearance as herself?

The 1989 cameo came the same year she designed the Indiana Pacers' uniforms, part of a busy post-track life in entertainment and design.

Which toy maker signed a deal with Griffith Joyner for a Barbie-like doll in her likeness?

The doll deal came in the weeks after Seoul, when she was earning millions from endorsements, mostly in Japan.

In which California town did the Griffith family live before moving to Jordan Downs in Watts?

Her mother, a seamstress, moved the eleven children to the public housing complex in Los Angeles, where Florence joined weekend track meets in elementary school.

What was the profession of Griffith Joyner's father, Robert?

Her mother, also named Florence, was a seamstress, which may help explain the sprinter's lifelong interest in designing her own outfits.

In which Orange County city was Griffith Joyner at home when she died in her sleep in 1998?

The city later dedicated a park at the entrance to her Canyon Crest neighborhood in her honor.

What ended Griffith Joyner's 1996 comeback attempt before the US Olympic trials?

She had hoped to add the 400 m world record to her 100 m and 200 m marks and become a triple record holder.