Track & Field

Jacqueline Joyner Kersee 

Born 1962  East St. Louis, Illinois

5’-10” 154 lbs   UCLA (1980–1985)

Overcoming severe asthma Joyner Kersee was inspired by a movie about Babe Didrikson Zaharias, the “Greatest Female Athlete of the First Half of the 20th Century.  As a high school athlete at East St. Louis Lincoln Senior High School, she qualified for the finals in the long jump at the 1980 Olympic Trials, proceeding to earn gold metals in four Olympic games and three World Championships. Attending the University of Southern California (UCLA) she starred in both basketball, track & field where she scored 1,167 points during her collegiate basketball career,19th all time for the Bruins. Voted the greatest female athlete of all time, just ahead of Zaharias by Sports Illustrated for Women® magazine.  In 2023 inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame®.  A philanthropist and founder of the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation, for young people in East St. Louis to pursue athletics and academics. Now serving on the Board of Directors for USA Track & Field (U.S.A.T.F.).

CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS

OLYMPICS

GOLD

1987   Rome              Heptathlon &  Long jump

1988   Seoul               Heptathlon &   Long jump

1992   Barcelona       Heptathlon

SILVER

1982 Los Angelos      Heptathlon

BRONZE

1992   Barcelona       Long jump

1996   Atlanta            Long Jump

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

GOLD

1987   Rome              Heptathlon &  Long jump

1991   Tokyo              Long jump

1993   Stuttgart         Heptathlon

GOOD WILL GAMES

GOLD

1986   Moscow          Heptathlon

1990   Seattle            Heptathlon

1994   Saint Petersburg        Heptathlon

1987   Indianapolis                Long jump

AWARDS
1983 & 1985 Broderick Award (now Honda Sports Award)
1986 James E. Sullivan Award
1986 & 1987  Jesse Owens Award
1992 George Thomas “Mickey” Leland Award – Congressional Black Caucus Foundation
1997 Jack Kelly Fair Play Award
2000 St. Louis Walk of Fame inductee
2005 was inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois
2010 NCAA Silver Anniversary Awards honoree
2011 Dick Enberg Award, College Sports Information Director of America (CoSIDA)
2021 Webster University Doctor of Humane Letters

Jackie Joyner Kersee is an inspiration to many young women athletes to leap into the future with confidence.

Looking up and long!  w2

Copyright: Willis Whiteside 2023 All Rights Reserved.

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REFERENCES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Joyner-Kersee