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There is no doubt that Jackie Joyner-Kersee was the greatest
all-round female athlete of the 20th century, having won two Olympic
gold medals and broken four world records in the heptathlon. In her
early years she concentrated on the long jump, an event at which she
also enjoyed international success. She competed in her first
heptathlon in 1981 and the next year won her first, of six, US national
championships. In 1983 she came second in the US nationals with 6372
points and gained selection to the World Championships held in Helsinki
later that year. At Helsinki, Jackie was in 6th position after four of
the seven events and with the long jump to follow, was expected to
advance her position within the field. Unfortunately, she strained her
leg warming up and had to withdraw from the competition. In 1984, she
won the US Olympic Trials heptathlon with a score of 6520 points.
With
the boycott of the Los Angeles Olympic Games that year by the eastern
bloc countries, she entered the Olympic competition with the highest
personal best amongst the competitors. At Los Angeles, Jackie was
second after four events, but surprisingly lost ground in the long jump
after fouling her first two attempts, forcing her to 'play safe' on her
last attempt where she jumped 6.11m (see photo above), well
behind her best. However, an excellent effort in the javelin throw
improved her standing to be narrowly in the lead with just the 800m to
go. Fighting a hamstring injury, she held on gamely to the leaders but
was disappointed to just miss the overall gold medal by only five
points, finishing second to Australia's Glynis Nunn. Joyner-Kersee also
competed in the long jump at Los Angeles, where she finished fifth,
having fouled four of her six attempts. (Ron Casey)
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