Jackie Joyner-Kersee ’86

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One of ESPN's 50 Greatest Athletes of the Century and Sports Illustrated Female Athlete of the Century, Jackie Joyner-Kersee dominated the sport of track and field for more than 20 years, setting world and American records that still exist today.

The second of four children, Joyner-Kersee was born in East St. Louis, Ill. Though lacking in material possessions, her family never failed to provide her with an abundance of love and support. Joyner-Kersee was also blessed with an exceptional talent and an unshakable belief in herself. That foundation led her to become a basketball and track star in both high school and college. She received a basketball scholarship to UCLA. This same foundation helped her distinguish herself in track and field, most notably in the long jump and heptathlon.

Joyner-Kersee rose to prominence as an All-State and All-America prep performer at Lincoln Senior High School in East St. Louis, Missouri. At UCLA, she received the All-University Athlete Award for the first of three times in 1982. A four-year starter on the women’s basketball team, she ranks among UCLA’s career leaders in scoring, rebounding and games played.

During her collegiate career, Joyner-Kersee was the most dominant American figure in the long jump and heptathlon. In fact, since placing second in the heptathlon at the Los Angeles Olympic games in 1984, she has never lost a completed heptathlon.

In 1985 she was awarded the Broderick Cup as the nation’s top collegiate female athlete, and the Olympia Award as one of the nation’s top athletes in an Olympic sport. She was named first-team All Conference in basketball after the Bruins defeated a Cheryl Miller-led USC team twice in the same season.

Since graduating with a B.A. in history from UCLA in 1986, what she calls her greatest off-field accomplishment, Joyner-Kersee has built one of the most illustrious athletic careers ever, earning the title “World's Greatest Female Athlete.” By winning three Olympic gold medals, one silver and two bronze, and by holding the world and Olympic records in the heptathlon, and the American record in the long jump and the 50- and 60-meter hurdles, she has continued to live up to her title.
In 1987 she was named the U.S. Olympic Committee Sportswoman of the Year and the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year. Her gold medal-winning performance in the 1988 Olympics resulted in a world record for the fourth time. In 1992, she again scored over 7,000 points to become the first woman in history to win back-to-back Olympic heptathlons and a bronze medal in the long jump.

In 1993, Joyner-Kersee received UCLA’s Professional Achievement Award.

However, what has earned Joyner-Kersee the respect and admiration of her peers and fans alike has not merely been her success as an athlete. Joyner-Kersee says, “I strive to be a Jackie of all trades. I am an individual who has accomplished a great deal through athletics.” She has received many prestigious awards including the St. Louis Ambassadors Sportswoman of the Year Award, the Sporting News Athlete of the Year Award (the first woman to receive either of these awards), the Sullivan Award and the Jesse Owens Memorial Award, which she won two years in a row. Yet with all the awards and accolades, Joyner-Kersee is most proud of her achievements off the track.

Joyner-Kersee's commitment to her community was the force driving her to establish the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation. Joyner-Kersee raised $12 million to build a safe haven for young people in her hometown of East St. Louis. The center celebrated its opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 1, 2000. Of her efforts she says, “When I leave this earth, I want to know I've created something that will help others.”

Joyner-Kersee carries her holistic outlook and gracious demeanor to the track, the community and the boardroom. Because of this combination of qualities, she was appointed chair of the St. Louis Sports Commission. She is the first female, the first African-American, the first Illinois native and the first active athlete to have been awarded this title. This position allows Joyner-Kersee to apply her years of international sports experience to add new chapters to the St. Louis region's rich sports history.

Joyner-Kersee brings this same passion, energy and fervent optimism to everything she does. In addition to her foundation work, Joyner-Kersee is also a dynamic motivational speaker sought after by educational, cultural, civic and corporate groups who want to hear her positive and inspirational messages. She has received a total of seven honorary degrees from colleges and universities throughout the country, including a doctorate of humane letters from Spelman College. She is a businesswoman and entrepreneur, heading her own sports marketing firm, Elite International Sports Marketing and Management, and is a role model for adults and youth alike. Joyner-Kersee is also an author. In 1997, she penned a poignant and honest autobiography entitled “A Kind of Grace: The Autobiography of the World's Greatest Female Athlete.” If this were not enough, Joyner-Kersee is also registered as both an NFL and NBA agent in an effort to broaden her business success even further.

In July of 1998, Joyner-Kersee reached the final chapter of her unbelievable athletic career. At the Goodwill Games in New York, she shocked the world with her fourth Goodwill Games heptathlon victory, the last international heptathlon competition of her career. And in the final week of July, Joyner-Kersee took her last long jump at “the U.S. Open Track and Field's Farewell to JJK,” held 20 miles from her hometown of East St. Louis. With this final long jump, Joyner-Kersee leaped into the history books as a legend in the sport of track and field and as a legendary athlete amongst the greatest, male or female, of all time.

Ask Joyner-Kersee what her limits are and she'll say she has none. As she often tells audiences during her motivational speeches, “The only person who can stop you from reaching your goals is you!” The World's Greatest Female Athlete has set more goals for herself, as she and her husband Bob Kersee step onto the NASCAR ovals. The next century has Joyner-Kersee continuing on the successful path she has traveled, busy making even more strides and opening more doors and opportunities for the next generation.