Joyner Kersey, Jackie

Jacqueline Joyner was born March 3, 1962 in East St. Louis, Illinois . She received her name in honor of Jacqueline (Jackie) Kennedy ^[3] .

Career start

Already at school, Jackie showed extraordinary abilities in athletics, jumping at 13 years old at 5.10 meters. She was also fond of volleyball and basketball. At age 14, she became a junior Illinois champion. In 1980, Jackie entered the University of California at Los Angeles and began to play for his athletics and basketball teams. In the same year, she lost her mother and became the head of her family. At the University, she begins to be trained by Bob Kersey, who invited a talented athlete to specialize in athletics and, specifically, in the heptathlon.

Jackie is selected for the World Athletics Championships in Helsinki (1983), but performs poorly there. On the very first day of the heptathlon competition, she starred due to an injury.

In 1984, the first big success came. At the games in Los Angeles, she won a silver medal in the heptathlon, losing only five points to the winner.

Higher Achievements

From 1986 to 1992, Jackie practically did not know defeats in the heptathlon and at the same time successfully performed in long jumps. In 1986, she first overcame the 7000-point mark in the women's heptathlon on July 7, 1986, setting a world record of 7148 points at the Goodwill Games in Moscow .

In 1988, she excelled at the Seoul Olympics with a world record of 7291 points and five days later won Olympic gold in long jump (7.40). After 4 years, she repeated success in the heptathlon at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, ​​again exceeding the barrier of 7000 - 7044 points.

The last time Jackie Joyner participated in the 1996 Games in Atlanta. She won a bronze medal in long jump and was unable to complete the heptathlon program due to an aggravated injury. In 1996, Jackie left the stadium track and tried herself as a player in the Richmond Rage basketball team, but without much success.

In 1998, she returned to athletics and even won the Goodwill Games in the heptathlon program (6502 points) and then announced that she was leaving the big sport. But in 2000, she did not qualify for the Sydney Olympics as part of the US team, and this ended her career.

Since 2001, Jackie has been engaged in charity work, in her hometown of East St. Louis, she founded a foundation of her name supporting young athletes ^[4] .

Jackie's elder brother is Al Joyner , also a famous athlete - Olympic triple jump champion. In 1986, Jackie married her coach Bob Kersey and took his last name.

• She participated in four Olympic games and four world championships.
• Recognized by Sports Illustrated for Women's as the Best Athlete of the 20th Century (2001)
• Three times recognized as the best athlete in athletics in the USA (1986, 1987, 1994) ^[5]
• Two-time winner of the Jesse Owens award as the best athlete in the USA (1986, 1987) ^[6]

Jackie Joyner was an extremely versatile athlete, demonstrating high-end results in various athletics disciplines: horizontal jumping, sprinting and hurdling. Her record is 7.49 m, this is the second result in the history of women's long jump and to this day the record of America.

Personal records

• Joyner-Kersee Jackie IAAF profile