Al Joyner came to Los Angeles for the Summer Games in 1984 to participate with the United States Olympic track and field squad. He became the first African American in 80 years to win a gold medal in the triple jump with a leap of 56′-7.5″. Al was also granted the Jim Thorpe Award, which is presented to the finest American athlete in an Olympic Field Event every four years.
Al cheered on his sister Jackie Joyner Kersee as she participated in the heptathlon the same year. When she won silver in the event, she and her sister became the first sibling teams in U.S. history to medal in the same
Olympics. Al married track star Florence Griffith, afterwards known as Flo Jo, on October 10, 1987.
They met during the Olympic trials registration in 1980 and hit it off right away. Later, Al began guiding Florence to three gold medals and one silver in the 100, 200, four-by-one hundred-meter relay, and four-by-four-by-four-by-four-by-four-by-four-by-four-by-four-by-four-by-four-by- Florence died following an epileptic episode at the age of 38 in 1998, much to the surprise of Al and the couple’s daughter Mary Ruth. Following his wife’s untimely death, Al began touring to promote her freshly published book, “Running for Dummies,” as well as to kick-start the Florence Griffith Joyner charity/scholarship fund.
Joyner also took over as director of the Flo Jo Community Empowerment Foundation, an organization committed to making dreams come true for young people all around the world. This foundation receives one dollar for every copy of “Running for Dummies” sold. Al has been inducted into the Arkansas State University Track and Field Hall of Fame (1993), the Arkansas Track and Field Hall of Fame (1997), and the Illinois Track and Field Hall of Fame for his achievements on and off the track (1999).
