Florence Griffith Joyner

By: Ava Jane

Today I will be talking about the life of Florence Griffith Joyner. Florence was an Olympic metal racer! Florence married Al Joyner, the Olympic triple jump champion of 1984, in 1987. She raced most of her life. Florence started racing at age seven. People called her Flo Joe. Florence’s famous outfit is a shimmery purple outfit, with one leg bare and one leg with it on. Florence always had decretive long nails!!


First I will talk about her Career. Florence was an American track and field athlete! Bob Kersee found her working as a bank teller in 1979 and convinced her to train with him at the University of California, Los Angeles. (UCLA). Florence began competitive sprinting at age seven. She chased Jack rabbits for most of the day! Flo Joe continued to work with Bob Kersee, her sprinting coach. Al Joyner is Bobs sprinting name. After breaking her high school records, Florence gave up racing to make money for her family, at age 19.


Second, I am going to talk about her family, and childhood. Florence was born in a big family, and she was the 7th of 11 kids! Flo Joe was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1959. In 1987 Florence married Al Joyner, the Olympic triple jump champion of 1984! She married her sprinting coach, Bob Kersee!


Last I will be talking about Flo Joe’s birth and death. Flo Joe was born December 21st, 1929, and died September 21st, 1989. As you all know, she was born in Los Angeles, California, and died in Los Angeles. Florence died at the age of 38, by a seizure in her sleep!


To wrap all of this presentation up, I am going to talk about my thoughts about Flo Joe. I really liked how brave she was. I love that she started racing at age 7, and she was still doing it at 38! It is so caring that she put her family before herself, at age 19 to make money! That is the end of my Florence Griffith Biography Bistro research project.


Sources:
Wikipedia
World Book