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Making Her Way to the Top: A Biography on Jackie Joyner Kers

 

             Born in 1962 as Jacqueline Joyner, Jackie Joyner-Kersee is considered by many people one of the greatest track and field athletes in the world. Jackie Joyner-Kersee has been competing since she was twelve, and is still living today. Many competitions have been won by this woman. She is a strong, determined, and talented athlete and person.
             Jackie Joyner-Kersee has an almost innumerable list of competitions, contests, and titles that she has won. When Jackie was fourteen, she won her first of four U.S. National Junior Titles for the pentathlon. Later, in 1980, she graduated from high school. From there she entered college at UCLA on a basketball scholarship.
             It was at UCLA that her coach, Bob Kersee, encouraged her to train for multiple event contests. In 1983 Jackie and her brother Al, who is a triple jumper, competed for the U.S. in the Track and Field Championships in Finland. The two later competed together in the 1984 Olympics, which were held in Los Angeles, California. Jackie placed second in the Heptathlon there, and that was very exciting for her.
             Her success continued in 1986, when she won an award from the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States, for being the most outstanding amateur athlete in the country. Also in 1986 she and her coach, Bob Kersee, were married. The next year, in 1987, she won the heptathlon at the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She again won the heptathlon at the World Championships in Rome, where she also won the long jump event. The following year, at the 1988 Olympics, which were held in South Korea, Jackie won gold medals in both the heptathlon and the long jump. She again won the heptathlon title, along with a bronze in the long jump at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Amazingly, Jackie overcame an illness to go on and win yet another title in the heptathlon at the World Championships in 1993.
             As you can see by her resume, Jackie Joyner-Kersee is an absolutely astonishing athlete.


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