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Florence Griffith Joyner - USA - Athletics - 100m & 200m - Seoul 1988 Olympic Games
Florence Griffith Joyner's career was as brief as it was colourful. The Californian sprinter was known more for her outrageous outfits and long, painted fingernails as much as she was recognised for her sprinting achievements.
But all that stopped in 1988, when the Flo-Jo phenomenon took root amid a string of incredible performances culminating in double sprint gold at the Olympic Games in Seoul.
She was undoubtedly a sprinter of note, claiming silver in the 200m at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and again earning the runners-up spot in the world championships in Rome three years later.
But it was in the relatively humble surrounds of the US Olympic trials in 1988 that she made her astonishing breakthrough.
In the heats of the 100m she broke the world record held by compatriot Evelyn Ashford, knocking almost three tenths off the previous mark with an unheard of time of 10.49secs.
Controversy raged over the new time as the wind reading for the race was 0.0 while the triple jump equipment registered a wind speed of 4.3 miles per second a few yards away. Yet the record stood and only Flo-Jo herself has come within touching distance of the time ever since.
Her performances in Seoul were nothing short of remarkable. She dominated a world class field in the 100m final, beating Ashford and Heike Drechsler with blistering pace.
She clocked 10.54secs in the final after establishing a two-yard lead at the halfway stage and scorching away from the field in the second half of the race.
The 200m win was even more impressive, shattering the world record in the final with a time of 21.34secs to leave Jamaica's Grace Jackson, who beat her own personal best by a large, trailing about five metres behind in silver medal position.
Griffith Joyner's records for 100m and 200m have yet to be broken. At the Games in Seoul, she ran in both relays, winning a third gold medal in the 4x100m and a silver in the 4x400m. In 1998, Griffith Joyner died in her sleep at the age of 38, the victim of a form of epileptic seizure that led her to suffocate.
Find more about Florence Griffith Joyner: www.olympic.org/florence-griff...
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