Women who changed sport: With speed and style, Florence Griffith Joyner moved athletics from the sports page to the front page

Florence Griffith Joyner reinvented track and field. Both her 100m and 200m world record still stand. Find out more about her legacy.

There will never be another athlete quite like Flo-Jo.

Florence Griffith Joyner swept the women’s 100m, 200m and 4×100 gold medals at the Olympic Summer Games Seoul 1988, and still holds the world records in both the 100 and 200 – records that have stood for some 30 years.

But beyond the track, Flo-Jo’s unique style and willingness to mix fashion and sport made her a cultural icon, a legacy that has carried on through to today. In 2021, tennis great Serena Williams showed just how much of an impact Flo-Jo still has, donning a one-legged catsuit at the Australian Open, which was the sprinter’s signature during her record-breaking 1988 season.

“I was inspired by Flo-Jo [and] watching her fashion, just always changing, her outfits were always amazing,” Williams told reporters in Melbourne. “This design [comes from] inspiration from Flo-Jo. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is so brilliant.'”

Flo-Jo’s brilliance lasted well beyond her early 1989 retirement from competition as she became a symbol for female strength, trying her hand at fashion and doll design, as well as acting, while also becoming an active spokesperson for a multitude of brands, as well as President Bill Clinton’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

“Florence transcended our sport,” Jackie Joyner-Kersee, her teammate (and later sister-in-law) told PBS last year. “She took track and field off of the sports page and onto the front page. She brought in more people wanting to know more not just about her but also our sport.”