Florence Griffith-Joyner - The Ruler

SPRINTER - TEAM USA - OLYMPIAN -

WR HOLDER - 100m & 200m

ARCHETYPE: THE RULER

Day 127/135

Athletic Accomplishments

Florence Griffith-Joyner is the fastest woman of all time, owning the world records in the 100m (10.49) and 200m (21.34) since the 1988 Olympics.

As a kid growing up in the 1970s, Griffith-Joyner joined the Sugar Ray Robinson Organization, where she ran track meets on weekends and won the Jesse Owens National Youth Games at age 14 and 15. She ran in college at California State University at Northridge, the team winning an NCAA championship in her first year. She later transferred to UCLA to continue running for coach Bob Kersee, who had secured financial aid for Griffith-Joyner to continue running.

Griffith-Joyner qualified for the 100m for the 1980 Olympics while still at UCLA. However, the U.S. and 65 other nations had boycott the Summer Games, hosted in Moscow, in protest of the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan. She qualified again in 1984, winning the silver medal in the 200 in Los Angeles.

The 1988 Olympics—and the trials leading up to the Summer Games in Seoul—were Griffith-Joyner’s moment. At the U.S. Olympic trials, she set the world record for the 100m and recorded the three fastest times for a woman at 100 meters: 10.49 (quarterfinal), 10.70 (semi-final), and 10.61 (finals). She also set the 200m American record (21.77).

At the Olympics, Flo-Jo was heavily favored in the sprints and did not disappoint. In the 100m finals, she took gold with a 10.54, winning by a large margin—0.3 seconds. In the 200m semifinal, she set the world record before breaking it a second time in the final with a time of 21.34 seconds.

Flo-Jo went on to win three gold medals, in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m. She also won a bronze medal as part of the 4x400m relay.

In 1989, Griffith-Joyner retired from track and field. In 1995, she was inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame.

In 1998, she tragically and unexpectedly died of an epileptic seizure in her sleep, at the age of 38.

Side note: On multiple occasions—in college and as an Olympian—Griffith-Joyner had to stop running and get a job to help support her family, working as a bank teller or at a nail salon to pay the bills. This is why the Olympics changing from requiring amateur status to allowing professional athletes, sponsorships, and the like has been transformative for athletes.

Character Archetype: The Ruler

Who’s that baddie wearing the hooded speed skater uniform on the track? The one with the long nails? Oh, look. Now she’s wearing a fuchsia one-legged racing singlet.

That is Florence Griffith-Joyner AKA Flo-Jo AKA the fastest woman of all time. In 1988, Flo-Jo took the Olympic Games by storm, crushing the field in the 100m and 200m, winning gold medals and setting world records that still stand, 33 years later.

Flo-Jo gained notoriety, not just for her stride and wins on the track. She was also unapologetically herself, despite those puritanical critics who said she should dress more conventionally, or stop worrying about her makeup, hair, and nails. But Flo-Jo dealt with the haters in the best way possible: by ignoring them, winning gold medals, and becoming a fashion icon.

“It doesn’t matter what you wear. It’s what you believe you could do,” she said. The confidence of a queen, still reigning supreme.