When was jackie joyner born

View all biology worksheets. View all space worksheets. View all science worksheets. View all animal worksheets. View all Addition Worksheets. View all Numbers Worksheets. View all Money Worksheets. This download is exclusively for KidsKonnect Premium members!

To download this worksheet, click the button below to signup it only takes a minute and you'll be brought right back to this page to start the download! Sign Me Up. Editing resources is available exclusively for KidsKonnect Premium members.

To edit this worksheet, click the button below to signup it only takes a minute and you'll be brought right back to this page to start editing! Sign Up. This worksheet can be edited by Premium members using the free Google Slides online software. Click the Edit button above to get started. This sample is exclusively for KidsKonnect members! To download this worksheet, click the button below to signup for free it only takes a minute and you'll be brought right back to this page to start the download!

Joyner-Kersee was the first-ever American to win a gold medal in the long jump competition. She was also the first-ever woman in history that achieved more than 7, points in the seven-event heptathlon. See the fact file below for more information on the Jackie Joyner-Kersee or alternatively, you can download our page Jackie Joyner-Kersee worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Jackie Joyner-Kersee across 24 in-depth pages. Having created the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Youth Center Foundation, to encourage underprivileged youth in her hometown to play sports, the athletic great devoted more time to the endeavor in retirement. According to its website, the organization aims to "educate, encourage and assist athletes in their efforts to contribute to community and charitable causes.

In , she became a spokesperson for the cable TV company Comcast. Among her many accolades, Joyner-Kersee won the James E. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Olympic gold medalist Florence Joyner brought style to track and field with form-fitting bodysuits, six-inch fingernails and amazing speed. She still holds the world records in the and meter events.

In , Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field at a single Olympics.

His long jump world record stood for 25 years. Track and field star Alice Coachman made history at the Olympic Games, becoming the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier when he became the first Black athlete to play Major League Baseball after joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in American swimmer Katie Ledecky won a gold medal at the Olympics before shattering numerous world records.

She continued her winning streak at the Summer Olympics, earning four gold medals and one silver medal. American runner Allyson Felix has won nine Olympic medals, making her the most decorated woman in U. Having been a teenaged parent herself, Mary Joyner told the children they could not date until the age of 18 and spurred their interest in other activities. As a child, Joyner-Kersee began to study modern dance at the local community center. One day she saw a sign advertising a new track program and decided to give it a try.

At first Joyner-Kersee lost every race, but soon she was winning. In , she watched the Olympics on television and later recalled in the Chicago Tribune, "I decided I wanted to go. I wanted to be on TV, too. The first competitor she beat regularly was her older brother, Al. The two siblings began to spur one another on to greater and greater achievements, growing very close in the process. At the age of 14, Joyner-Kersee won the first of four straight national junior pentathlon championships.

Track and field events were only part of the weapons in her arsenal, however. In high school she was a state champion in both track and basketball.

Her Lincoln High School basketball team won games by an average of Joyner-Kersee also played volleyball and continued to encourage her brother in his sporting career. Her athletic achievements notwithstanding, she was an excellent student who finished in the top ten percent of her graduating class.

Joyner-Kersee was heavily recruited by high-ranking colleges and chose the University of California at Los Angeles. She began school there in on a basketball scholarship. Tragedy struck in her freshman year when her mother developed a rare form of meningitis and died at the age of Stunned by the sudden and unexpected loss, both Jackie and Al Joyner dedicated themselves to athletics with new resolve.

She was rather surprised to find herself singled out by an assistant track coach named Bob Kersee, who detected untapped possibilities in the young collegian. So I went to the athletic director and made him a proposition. Kersee literally put his own job on the line, demanding to coach Jackie Joyner in multi-events, or he would quit. The university athletic department agreed to his plan.

The coach remarked in Sports Illustrated, "By , I could see she'd be the world record holder. She was also a top scoring forward on the basketball team, so her endurance was excellent. Al Joyner taught her how to run the hurdles and to throw the javelin-a type of spear-and the shot put-a heavy palm-sized metal ball. By , Joyner-Kersee qualified for the world track and field championships in Helsinki, Finland.

Her first chance to be a world champion ended in disaster, however, when she pulled a hamstring muscle and could not complete the heptathlon.

Ironically, her brother Al was also present, and he too was injured. Al Joyner told Sports Illustrated that he consoled his sister by telling her, "It's just not our time yet. Olympic team. Having recovered from her injuries, Jackie was a favorite to win the heptathlon.

Al, on the other hand, was not considered likely to win his event, the triple jump. Confounding all predictions, Jackie won the silver medal in the heptathlon, missing the gold by only. Meanwhile, Al Joyner became the first American in 80 years to win the Olympic triple jump. The tears Jackie shed at the end of the day were not for her hair's-breadth loss, but rather for joy at her brother's victory.

Both of them knew that Jackie would be back to compete another day. The depths of Joyner-Kersee's potential began to be apparent in , when she set a U. By then she had quit playing basketball and was devoting herself exclusively to track, under the guidance of Bob Kersee. Their relationship became romantic after years spent working together as friends, and they were married on January 11, When Al Joyner was wed to a sprinter named Florence Griffith, the stage was set for the emergence of a track and field "family" of champions: Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Florence Griffith Joyner.

The two women were among an elite cadre of track stars coached by Bob Kersee in preparation for the Olympic Games. In , Joyner-Kersee was ranked third in the world heptathlon.