Florence Griffith Joyner

Florence Delorez Griffith was born in Los Angeles, California, the seventh of eleven children raised in the Jordan Downs housing projects in Watts. Running in the Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation races as a child, she attended UCLA under legendary track coach Bob Kersee, capturing the NCAA 200-meter championship in 1982 and winning silver in the 200 meters at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

In 1988, having married 1984 Olympic triple jump champion Al Joyner, Flo-Jo underwent an intense physical and stylistic transformation. At the US Olympic Trials in Indianapolis on 16 July 1988, she stunned the sporting universe by obliterating the 100-meter world record with an astonishing time of 10.49 seconds—a time that has never been approached by any female sprinter since.

At the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, Flo-Jo conquered the globe, winning gold medals in the 100m (10.54), 200m (shattering the world record twice, culminating in 21.34 seconds), and the 4x100m relay, plus a silver in the 4x400m relay. Beyond her superhuman velocity, Flo-Jo captivated millions with her runway flair: running in one-legged spandex lace catsuits, flowing hair, and six-inch multicolored fingernails. Tragically, she passed away in her sleep from an epileptic seizure in 1998 at just thirty-eight years old.