orig. Jacqueline Joyner
born March 3, 1962, East St. Louis, Ill., U.S.
U.S. athlete.
She won four consecutive National Junior Heptathlon championships and starred in basketball and track and field at UCLA. In 1986 she became the first heptathlon competitor ever to score 7,000 points. She broke that barrier six times, four times establishing a new world record. She won heptathlon gold medals at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics, becoming the first heptathlete ever to achieve consecutive Olympic wins. Her best events were the long jump (world record, 1987; Olympic gold medal, 1988), 100-m hurdles, 200-m run, and high jump. Many consider her to be the finest female athlete in history.