Editing Florence Griffith Joyner (section)

===Olympic runner===
[[File:Florence Griffith and Valerie Brisco-Hooks, 1984.jpg|thumb|300x300px|Florence Griffith Joyner (left) with [[Valerie Brisco-Hooks]] at the 1984 Olympic Trials.]]
Griffith finished fourth in the 200-meter sprint at the first [[1983 World Championships in Athletics|World Championship in Athletics]] in 1983.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/1st-iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics-3/results/women/200-metres/final/result |title=IAAF: 200 Metres Result {{!}} 1st IAAF World Championships in Athletics {{!}} iaaf.org|website=iaaf.org|access-date=August 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810023023/https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/1st-iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics-3/results/women/200-metres/final/result|archive-date=August 10, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In the next year, she qualified for the Olympics in the 200-meter distance with the second fastest time at the [[1984 United States Olympic Trials (track and field)|United States Olympic Trials]], held in Los Angeles.<ref name=":16">{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1984/07/02/620407/trials-and-jubilation |title=Trials And Jubilation |last=Moore |first=Kenny |date=July 2, 1984 |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]] |access-date=August 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830104001/https://www.si.com/vault/1984/07/02/620407/trials-and-jubilation |archive-date=August 30, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Evelyn Ashford]], another UCLA alumna and early favorite to medal,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/23/sports/the-grueling-road-of-evelyn-ashford.html |title=The Grueling Road of Evelyn Ashford |last=Shah |first=Diane K. |date=February 23, 1983 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=August 30, 2017 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830105123/http://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/23/sports/the-grueling-road-of-evelyn-ashford.html |archive-date=August 30, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> dropped out of the 200-meter due to injury.<ref name=":16" /> Griffith went on to win a [[silver medal]] in the [[1984 Summer Olympics]], coming in second behind teammate [[Valerie Brisco-Hooks]].<ref name=":7" />

After the 1984 Olympic Games, she spent less time running.<ref name=":15" /> Griffith continued to run part-time,<ref name=":15" /> winning the 100-meter [[IAAF Grand Prix Final]] with the time of 11.00 seconds.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/gp.htm |title=IAAF Grand Prix, Combined Events Challenge and Golden Events |website=www.gbrathletics.com |access-date=May 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806170842/http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/gp.htm |archive-date=August 6, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> She did not compete at the 1985 U.S. National Championship.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-06-11-sp-10472-story.html |title=Track / Mal Florence: Pursley's Mishap Points Out How Dangerous Pole Vaulting Is |last=Florence |first=Mal |date=June 11, 1985 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=August 30, 2017 |issn=0458-3035 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151212131439/http://articles.latimes.com/1985-06-11/sports/sp-10472_1_dangerous-pole-vaulting-is |archive-date=December 12, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> That same year, she returned to working at a bank and styled hair and nails in her spare time.<ref name=":7" /> She married [[Al Joyner]], the Olympic [[triple jump]] champion of 1984, in 1987.<ref name="Rowbottom, Mike" />

She returned to athletics in April 1987.<ref name=":14">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/london-2012-olympics-blog/2012/apr/11/olympic-florence-griffith-joyner-seoul |title=50 stunning Olympic moments No22: Florence Griffith Joyner, Seoul 1988 |last=Burnton |first=Simon |date=April 11, 2012 |work=The Guardian |access-date=June 24, 2017 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830154253/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/london-2012-olympics-blog/2012/apr/11/olympic-florence-griffith-joyner-seoul |archive-date=August 30, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Four months later, at the [[1987 World Championships in Athletics|1987 World Championships]] in [[Rome]], Griffith Joyner finished second in the 200-meter sprint.<ref name=":12">{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-02-05-sp-27516-story.html |title=Griffith-Joyner Ranked 2nd in World for 200 Meters |last=Ortega |first=John |date=February 5, 1988 |work=Los Angeles Times |issn=0458-3035 |access-date=August 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829050712/http://articles.latimes.com/1988-02-05/sports/sp-27516_1_world-championship |archive-date=August 29, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":14" /> Her success during the 1987 season resulted in being ranked second in [[Track & Field News|Track and Field News]]' 1987 world rankings.<ref name=":12" /> The 200 meters remained a stronger event for her than the 100 meters, where she was ranked seventh in the United States.<ref name=":12" />

Before the [[1988 United States Olympic Trials (track and field)|1988 U.S. Olympic Trials]], Griffith Joyner continued to work with her coach and husband's brother-in-law, Kersee, two days a week, but with her new husband coaching her three days a week.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-07-29-sp-7928-story.html |title=Griffith-Joyner Leaves Kersee's Club; She'll Be Coached Solely by Husband |last=HARVEY |first=RANDY |date=July 29, 1988 |work=Los Angeles Times |issn=0458-3035 |access-date=July 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820034527/http://articles.latimes.com/1988-07-29/sports/sp-7928_1_al-joyner |archive-date=August 20, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> She ran the 100 meter in 10.96-seconds at the 1987 [[Cologne]] Grand Prix Track and Field Meet, a personal best but the mark was not even in the top 40 of all time.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/european-stars-and-stripes-aug-18-1987-p-25/ |title=Canada's Johnson rips season's fastest 100 |date=August 18, 1987 |website=NewspaperArchive.com |publisher=European Stars And Stripes |page=25 |access-date=January 31, 2019}}</ref><ref name=":17" /> She continued to improve, again setting a personal best of 10.89 in the 100 meters in [[San Diego]] on June 25, 1988, but remained shy of the American record holder [[Evelyn Ashford]]'s three best times.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-26-sp-8397-story.html |title=Kingdom, 13.17 Into Wind, Routs Foster: Joyner-Kersee Jumps 24-3, Griffith Joyner Runs 10.89 in San Diego |last=Florence |first=Mal |date=June 26, 1988 |work=Los Angeles Times |issn=0458-3035 |access-date=August 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513084801/http://articles.latimes.com/1988-06-26/sports/sp-8397_1_griffith-joyner |archive-date=May 13, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> A week before the trials she ran a tune-up race in 10.99 in [[Santa Monica]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.alltime-athletics.com/w_100ok.htm |title=All-time women's best 100m |publisher=Track and Field all-time Performances Homepage |access-date=July 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810125217/http://www.alltime-athletics.com/w_100ok.htm |archive-date=August 10, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In the first race of the quarterfinals of the [[1988 United States Olympic Trials (track and field)|U.S. Olympic Trials]], she stunned her colleagues when she sprinted 100 meters in 10.49 seconds, a new world record by a margin of 0.27s over the previous record held by [[Evelyn Ashford]].<ref name=":4" /> Over the two-day trials, Griffith Joyner recorded the three fastest times for a woman at 100 meters: 10.49 in the quarter-final, 10.70 in the semifinal, and 10.61 in the final.<ref name="Hersh, Phil" /><ref name=":14" /> At the same Olympic trials, she also set an American record at the 200-meter distance with a time of 21.77 seconds.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.legacy.usatf.org/statistics/champions/OlympicTrials/HistoryOfTheOlympicTrials.pdf |title=The History of the United States Olympic Trials -- Track and Field |last=Hymans |first=Richard |date=2008 |publisher=USATF |page=30 |access-date=August 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620000346/http://usatf.org/statistics/champions/OlympicTrials/HistoryOfTheOlympicTrials.pdf |archive-date=June 20, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The 100-meter record was by far the largest improvement in the world record time since the advent of electronic timing, and still stands. This extraordinary result raised the possibility of a technical malfunction with the wind gauge which read at 0.0&nbsp;m/s - a reading at odds with the windy conditions on the day, with high wind speeds being recorded in all other sprints before and after this race as well as the parallel long jump runway at the time of the Griffith Joyner performance. All scientific studies commissioned by the IAAF and independent organizations have since found there was an illegal tailwind of between 5&nbsp;m/s – 7&nbsp;m/s at the time. The IAAF has not annulled the result, but since 1997 the International Athletics Annual of the [[Association of Track and Field Statisticians]] has listed it as "probably strongly wind assisted, but recognized as a world record."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://people.brunel.ac.uk/~spstnpl/BiomechanicsAthletics/WindAssistance.htm |title=Wind Assistance |date=March 2003 |publisher=[[Brunel University]] |author=Linthorne, Nick |access-date=August 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718110649/http://people.brunel.ac.uk/~spstnpl/BiomechanicsAthletics/WindAssistance.htm |archive-date=July 18, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> The fastest non-wind-assisted performance would then be Griffith Joyner's 10.61s in the final the next day.<ref>Linthorne, N. (1995) The 100m World Record by Florence Griffith Joyner at the 1988 U.S Olympic Trials. Report for the International Amateur Athletic Federation Department of Physics, University of Western Australia</ref> This mark was equaled by [[Elaine Thompson-Herah]] in the [[Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metres|2020 Olympic Final]] before being surpassed by Thompson-Herah at the post-Olympics Eugene Diamond League meeting in August 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/elaine-thompson-herah-narrowly-misses-212228141.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall |title=Elaine Thompson-Herah narrowly misses out on breaking 33-year-old 100m record|date=August 22, 2021 }}</ref> Thompson-Herah clocked 10.54 seconds, officially the second fastest time in women's 100&nbsp;m history.

Following the Olympic trials, in late July 1988, Griffith Joyner left coach Kersee saying she wanted a coach able to provide more personal attention.<!--<ref name=":1" />--> Another contributing factor was her unhappiness with the lack of sponsorship and endorsement opportunities.<ref name=":11">{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1988/08/07/kersee-still-waiting-for-reason-griffith-joyner-dropped-him-as/ |title=Kersee Still Waiting For Reason Griffith Joyner Dropped Him As |last=Hersh |first=Phil |date=August 7, 1988 |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=August 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710204940/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-08-07/sports/8801210104_1_al-joyner-bob-kersee-appearance-fees-and-bonuses |archive-date=July 10, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to being her coach, Kersee was Griffith Joyner's manager, as he required all the athletes he coached to use his management services too.<ref name=":11" /> Griffith Joyner's decision to sign with personal manager Gordon Baskin therefore necessitated the coaching change.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":8" /> She left UCLA for [[University of California, Irvine|UC Irvine]] with her husband serving as full-time coach.<ref name=":1" />

By then known to the world as "Flo-Jo", Griffith Joyner was the big favorite for the titles in the sprint events at the [[1988 Summer Olympics]]. In the [[Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metres|100-meter final]], she ran a 10.54, beating her nearest rival to the world record, Evelyn Ashford, by 0.30 seconds. In the [[Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metres|200 meter semifinal]], she set the world record of 21.56 seconds and then broke this record by 0.22 seconds in winning the final with a time of 21.34 seconds.<ref name="sr" /> Like her 100-meter world record, this mark still stands.

At the same Olympics, Griffith Joyner also ran with the 4 × 100 m relay and the 4 × 400 m relay teams. Her team won the [[Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay|4 × 100 m relay]] and finished second in the [[Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay|4 × 400 m relay]].<ref name=":15">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/22/sports/florence-griffith-joyner-38-champion-sprinter-is-dead.html |title=Florence Griffith Joyner, 38, Champion Sprinter, Is Dead |last=Longman |first=Jere |date=September 22, 1998 |work=The New York Times |access-date=August 30, 2017 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830111911/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/22/sports/florence-griffith-joyner-38-champion-sprinter-is-dead.html |archive-date=August 30, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> This was her first internationally rated 4 × 400 m relay. She left the games having won four Olympic medals, three gold and one silver.<ref name=":13">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/02/sports/the-seoul-olympics-track-and-field-pride-and-frustration-for-the-americans.html |title=The Seoul Olympics: Track and Field; Pride and Frustration for the Americans |last=Litsky |first=Frank |date=October 2, 1988 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=August 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828092939/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/02/sports/the-seoul-olympics-track-and-field-pride-and-frustration-for-the-americans.html |archive-date=August 28, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> At the time, her medal haul was the second most for female track and field athlete in history, behind only [[Fanny Blankers-Koen]] who won four gold medals in 1948.<ref name=":13" />

In February 1989, Griffith Joyner announced her retirement from racing.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/04/30/florencegriffithjoyner/ |title=Florence Griffith-Joyner |date=July 8, 2008 |website=CNN |access-date=July 31, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818121513/http://www.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/04/30/florencegriffithjoyner/ |archive-date=August 18, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> She cited her new business opportunities outside of sprinting.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":9" /><ref name=":10" /> The month after announcing her retirement, she was selected as the winner of the [[James E. Sullivan Award]] of 1988 as the top amateur athlete in the United States.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/07/sports/sports-people-track-and-field-griffith-joyner-gets-sullivan-award.html |title=Sports People: Track and Field; Griffith Joyner Gets Sullivan Award |date=March 7, 1989 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=August 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819214338/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/07/sports/sports-people-track-and-field-griffith-joyner-gets-sullivan-award.html |archive-date=August 19, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>