Florence Dolorez Griffith Joyner was an American athlete, who is considered to be one of the fastest women of all time. She was also known for being a trend setter on the field, with her fashionable outfits and long nails. She was born in Los Angeles, California on December 21, 1959 and raised in a public housing project. She attended Jordan High School in Los Angeles, where she ran track. While still in high school, she participated in the California State Meet where she finished in sixth place. After high school, Griffith attended the California State University at Northridge where her coach was Bob Kersee, who would later become her brother in law. There she also met her future teammates Alice Brown and Jeanette Bolden. She started training and was doing well but had to drop out of college because of financial issues. She then worked full time as a bank teller to support her family.

Bob Kersee arranged for financial aid for Griffith, so she was able to go back to college and resume training. Griffith and fellow teammates Brown and Bolden were able to qualify for the final trials of the 1980 Summer Olympics, where Brown came first in the 100m race and Griffith came last, unable to qualify. She was also unable to qualify for the 200m race. This result was disappointing, but the results were of no consequence since USA did not participate in the 1980 Olympics. Griffith then transferred to University of California in Los Angeles, after Kersee was offered a coaching position there. She graduated from UCLA in 1982, with a Bachelors degree in psychology.

After graduating from college, Griffith participated in the first “World Championship in Athletics” held in 1983, where she came fourth in the 200m race. In the 1984 Summer Olympics, she won a silver medal in the 200m dash. In 1985, she participated in the IAAF Grand Prix Final, where she won the 100m dash. In 1987, she married the Olympic triple jump champion Al Joyner and the same year she won the silver medal in the 200m race at the 1987 World Championships. The