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Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Page history last edited by Jill Feine 15 years, 9 months ago

         I chose Jackie Jonyer Kersee because she is a Track and Field athlete. I am

 

 interested in Track and Field like Jackie. Jackie is one of the greatest Track and Field

 

athletes. Jackie has gone to the Olympics several times. Jackie has won 6 Olympics medals, 3 gold

 

 medals, 1 silver medal, and 2 bronze medals.  If you want to know more information about Jackie

 

Joyner Kersee click here.

 

           There are lots of famous Track and Field athletes in the world, but one in particular is Jackie Joyner Kersee.  Jackie Joyner Kersee was one of the greatest Track and Field athletes in the world.

          Jackie Joyner Kersee was born on March 3, 1962 in Louis, Illinois. Jackie Joyner Kersee was named after Jacqueline Kennedy (John F. Kennedy’s wife) because her grandmother said, “Someday this girl will be the first lady of something.” She was right - Track and Field.  Jackie’s parents were Mary and Alfred Joyner. Jackie’s brother is Al, and Jackie’s sisters are Angela and Debra. Jackie’s father, Alfred, was a hurdler and a football player in high school. Also her brother Al is an Olympic athlete. Al’s, wife Florence Griffith Joyner was an Olympic sprinter.

           As a girl Jackie lived on 1433 Piggott Street in East St. Louis Illinois. She lived in a small wooden bungalow. Jackie‘s nickname is Joker because Jackie told a lot of jokes. Jackie was 9 when she went to the recreation center. Jackie was 10 and her father took a job at a railroad. Jackie competed in the quarter mile at the Junior Olympics Regionals.  That was for ages 9-18. Jackie took lessons for dancing and acting. When Jackie was 10, Al said, “I’ll beat you in a 70 yard race,” and Jackie won! As a teenage Jackie ran with a track club called the East St. Louis Railers. One day Jackie was at the recreation center and she was waiting for her coach to come. While she was waiting, she did the long jump for the first time and it was 16’9”. Jackie then began to practice the long jump off the porch of her house. In 1976 Jackie was 14 and she qualified to compete in the pentathlon at the National Junior Olympics. Jackie gave up a part time job selling popcorn at a movie theater. Jackie was 15 and went to the National Junior Olympics in the pentathlon. She won her age group and got in the Sports Illustrated section Faces in the Crowd. When Jackie played basketball she was a great rebounder, tough defensive player, and a good scorer.

          Jackie was 18 years old when she accepted the basketball scholarship at UCLA. At UCLA she played forward position on her basketball team called the Bruins. Since Jackie wanted to concentrate on the long jump her favorite event but Jackie was not attending UCLA on a track and field scholarship. Coaches regarded her a “walk –on.”

           In 1986 Jackie married Bob Kersee. Jackie and Bob took 100 children from East St. Louis to NYC for the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in November, 1988. Jackie published a book in 1997 co-authored her life story the book was A Kind of Grace. In 1997 she announced that the Jackie Joyner Kersee Youth Center Foundation. Florence Griffith Joyner was Jackie’s sister-in-law, who died unexpectedly in her sleep of a brain disorder in September, 1998. Jackie retired from competition in 2000. After retirement Jackie became a popular motivational speaker, spokesperson and role model for asthma suffers. Jackie is a co-owner, with her husband Bob Kersee, of a NASCAR racing team, JKR Motorsports.   

          In the Olympics Jackie finished 2nd in the heptathlon in 1984 setting an Olympic record of 24 feet, 3 ½ inches. Jackie broke the 7,000 points barrier in the heptathlon was her first world record in 1986. At the Goodwill Game Jackie set six personal best records and shattered the world heptathlon record by more that 200 points in July of 1986. AVV gave the Sullivan Memorial Trophy to the nation’s most outstanding amateur in 1986. In 1987 Jackie did the long jump and scored 7.45 m. and that was a world record. In the Pan American Games in Indianapolis Jackie ties the world long jump record with 24 feet 5 ½ jump in 1987. In 1987 in the USA Outdoor Championship Jackie did the long jump and scored 280.50 m and won 1st place. In the 1987 USA Indoor Championship Jackie did the 60 m. hurdlers and scored 7.64 and won 1st place. Also in 1988 in the U.S Olympic trials Jackie did the long jump and scored 7.45 m and won 1st place.  In 1988 in the U.S. Olympic Trials Jackie did the Heptathlon and scored 7215 points and won 1st place. In the 1990 USA Outdoor Championship Jackie did the long jump and scored 7.08 m and won 1st place. In 1992 she won 1st place in the heptathlon in the Barcelona Games. Also in the Barcelona games Jackie finished 3rd in the long jump. In March 5, 1994 Jackie did the Long Jump and scored 7.13 m and that was an American Record. In 1996 Games in Atlanta Jackie pulled up lame in the heptathlon but came back from leg injury took 3rd place in the long jump. Jackie is the 1st women to win consecutive heptathlon championships at the Olympic Games. In 1989 Jackie did the 55 m. hurdles and she scored 7.37 and that was an American Record indoor. She  won two gold medals in Seoul, Korea. Jackie later played briefly in the American Basketball League.

          Jackie Joyner Kersee was an athlete person like me. She did track and field, and basketball. Jackie is a kind person. Jackie was a fun person to learn about. 

 

WORKS CITED:

Golstein, Margaret, J. Jackie Joyner Kersee Superwomen. Minneapolis: Lerner Publication Company, 1992.

 

Cohen, Neil. Jackie Joyner Kersee. Boston, Massachusetts: Brown and Company, 1992.

 

“Jackie Joyner Kersee”. 8 April 2008. http://ea.grolier.com/page?n=/printemail/p_see_article.html&id=0431559-00&text=full

 

“Jackie Joyner Kersee”. 8 April 2008. http://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=20.

 

 

“Jackie Joyner Kersee”. 22 April 2008. http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=an291310&st=jackie+joyer+kersee.

 

“Jackie Joyner Kersee”. 22 April 2008. http://www.learningtogive.org/papers/index.asp?bpid=107.

 

“Jackie Joyner Kersee”. 23 April 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki_Jonyer Kersee.

 

‘Jackie Joyner Kersee”. 21 April 2008. http://topblacks.com/sports/jackie-jonyer-kersee.html.

 

“Jackie Joyner Kersee”. 21 April 2008. http://www.galeschools.com/black_history/bio/joyer_j.html.

 

“Jackie Joyner Kersee”. 29 March 2008. http://biography.cpm/search/article.do?id=9358710&page=print.

 

http://www.usoc.org/26_13367.htm“Jackie Joyner Kersee”. 30 May 2008

 

 

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