Joyner-Kersee soared to heptathlon glory in her prolific career

An outstanding track athlete who also excelled as a basketball player, Jackie Joyner-Kersee was the best there ever was at the heptathlon. Before retiring at the 1998 Goodwill Games, she won Olympic heptathlon gold medals in 1988 and 1992. She also won two world championships in the long jump and two more in the heptathlon, as well as four other Olympic medals -- a gold (1988) and two bronzes in the long jump (1992, 1996) and a silver in the heptathlon (1984). Joyner-Kersee also broke the world record in the heptathlon twice in the summer of 1986.

Reflections on her career