![]() In 1987-88 I met a nurse who said she was working in a California hospital in what we called the Valley. "She dramatically developed into sub-11 seconds form that Olympic summer. Lorna Boothe, a former Commonwealth silver medallist in the 110 metres hurdles, trained regularly with Griffith-Joyner in the build-up to the 1988 Seoul Olympics when the American's record-breaking performances helped her to three gold medals.īut Boothe, now the British athletics team manager, was amazed at the transformation of Griffith-Joyner and believes drugs may have played a role.īoothe told the London Evening Standard: "I am astonished by the way Flo-Jo, a very good athlete in her own right, changed so incredibly from the slightly overweight, sluggish sprinter I was easily able to beat in training in California. She set a 100 metres world record of 10.49 seconds in the US Olympic trials and a 200 metres world record of 21.34 seconds at Seoul.Ī former training partner of Flo-Jo is convinced the sprinter took a cocktail of drugs to make her the fastest woman on earth. Griffith-Joyner won the 100 and 200 metres at the Seoul Olympics and was on the 1988 gold medal 4x100 metres relay. Police said an autopsy will be conducted, but she is believed to have died of a heart seizure similar to one she suffered in April of 1996 on a plane bound for St Louis. Griffith-Joyner was as famous for her lavish outfits, long fingernails and make-up as she was for her three Olympic titles at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Tributes to Flo-Jo had poured out from all over the world, including from US president Bill Clinton, sprint legend Carl Lewis, high hurdler Greg Foster, and many others. "It could take a few days or a few weeks," said Lieutenant Hector Rivera of the Orange County Sheriff's Department in California.Īmong the procedures carried out by the coroner was a toxicology test, which is done when the cause of death is unknown. And more than 35 years after her victories at the summer games in South Korea, she still holds the world records for the 100 and 200 meter sprints.Initial autopsy results yesterday were inconclusive, according to police. Today, Griffith Joyner is enshrined as one of the greatest athletes in track for revolutionizing women's sprinting with both her speed and her fashion. There should not be the slightest suspicion." The IOC medical commission president Prince Alexandre de Merode released a statement about Florence Griffith Joyner after her death: "We performed all possible and imaginable analyses on her. Two years later, Griffith Joyner died from an epileptic seizure caused by an abnormality of blood vessels in her brain.Īfter she died, allegations of performance-enhancing drugs resurfaced. But an injury prevented her from qualifying - and she never competed in the Olympics again. Griffith Joyner made an attempt to compete in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. "Well, if our busiest citizen, President Clinton, can make the time to run regularly, and become physically active, then I know there are ways for each one of us can find the time and make the time." Flo-Jo's legacy "All of us have sometimes mouthed the excuse that we're just too busy, that we don't have the time to exercise or be physically active," she said. ![]() She even designed the 1990 NBA uniforms for the Indiana Pacers. She became a mom, pursued fashion design and continued to combine sports and style. If I can't give it my all, I don't want to give it at all." When discussing her retirement with Liguori, Griffith Joyner said, "I retired in 1989 because I could no longer train 100%, in which I'm used to training. 22, 1989, five months after the Olympic games in Seoul, Griffith Joyner announced her retirement from track. I just tried not to take it personal and to just concentrate on the things I had to do and to move on." Griffith Joyner retires from track "People were looking for things to point fingers at athletes. I knew that it was a thing that was in the news," she said. ![]() Griffith Joyner spoke with journalist Ann Liguori in 1991 about the allegations: "I knew that I had never taken drugs so I didn't let that bother me when people said. The medical commission for the International Olympic Committee says it conducted rigorous drug testing on Griffith Joyner during the 1988 Olympics - and she always tested negative. Those rumors are always going to be there, and they were something she was asked about throughout her career, and which she always denied." In 1998, sports commentator John Feinstein told NPR's Morning Edition, "The rumors were there in 1988 in Seoul and I think the first thing to point out is that she never tested positive," he said.
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