To this day, Florence Griffith Joyner remains the fastest woman on earth and the world’s most recognizable sprinter. Known for her flamboyant style, controversy still plagues the late sprinter as some say she used performance-enhancing steroids to break world records. So, what’s the truth behind Flo-Jo’s success? Was she a cheat or history’s fastest fashionista? On your mark, get set, go… as we dive into Flo-Jo’s fascinating and tragic story.
A Star Is Born
Flo-Jo was born Florence Delorez Griffith in Los Angeles, California, on December 21st, 1959. The seventh of 11 children, her mother was also called Florence and worked as a seamstress. Her father, Robert, was an electrician.
Both parents earned extra money doing odd jobs for friends and neighbors in and around Watts. Needless to say, life for an African-American family in the late 1950s and 1960s was tough. The Griffiths did the best they could, but they always struggled financially.
Eleven Kids
The Griffith family originally lived in the Sun Village community of Littlerock, north of Los Angeles, but when her parents split up and later divorced, Florence Senior raised her eleven children single-handedly.
The devoted mother moved her 11 kids to the Jordan Downs housing projects in the predominantly African-American neighborhood of Watts, Los Angeles, and continued her work as a seamstress. They didn’t know it, but their community was about to be rocked to the core…
The Watts Riots
In the summer of 1965, when Florence was just six years old, police arrested a 21-year-old African American man by the name of Marquette Frye and hit him in the face with a baton. When the African-American community protested Frye’s arrest and mistreatment, the infamous Watts Riots ensued.
Living in Watts, Florence witnessed these renowned civil rights riots. Growing up in Watts’s projects with 10 siblings gave Florence Junior all the ingredients to reach for the stars. She was athletic, competitive, and fashionable.
