Who was Al Joyner’s first wife Florence Griffith Joyner?
Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner was born on December 21, 1959, she was an American track and field athlete. She set world records in 1988 for the 100 m and 200 m. During the late 1980s she became a popular figure due to both her record-setting athleticism and eclectic personal style.
Griffith Joyner who was also known as Flo-Jo, was born and raised in California and had always been athletic from a young age and began running at track meets as a child. She was a sight to watch on track and lived a great life until her untimely death in 1998.
Flo-Jo decided to retire in February 1989 but still remained a public figure through endorsement deals, acting, and designing. Her death came as a shock to everyone, as she died in her sleep as the result of an epileptic seizure in 1998 at the age of 38. She is buried at the El Toro Memorial Park in Lake Forest.
Florence had a romantic adventure during the time that she was alive and had even got married. She was briefly engaged to hurdler Greg Foster but that did not lead anywhere close to marriage and they had to quit along the way.
After her engagement to Foster, she found love again in Al Joyner, a 1984 Olympic triple jump champion. The duo got married in 1987, having first met at the 1980 Olympic Trials. Through her marriage to Joyner, she was sister-in-law to track and field athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee.
Griffith and Joyner had one daughter together, Mary Ruth Joyner, born November 15, 1990.
