Jackie Joyner-Kersee, an Olympic athlete, is disabled? Technically, no, but she has had health concerns that have nearly wrecked her potential athletic career.
Joyner-Kersee, one of the ‘Greatest Female Athletes of All-Time,’ was diagnosed with asthma in college. But, with the correct medicine and sheer perseverance, she didn’t let her physical restrictions stop her from pursuing her dreams. As a result, she won six Olympic medals, three of which were gold, in four different Olympic events.
Jackie Jacqueline is a retired American track and field athlete who won the heptathlon and long jump. Her birthday is March 6, 1962. She will have a net worth of $5 million in 2023. After completing her athletic journey from college to the Olympics and World Championships, she retired in the late 1990s.
Since then, she has worked as an advocate and philanthropist. In 2023, she was admitted into the International Sports Hall of Fame. There’s no denying she’s influenced numerous female track and field athletes around the world, including Sydney McLaughlin, Allyson Felix, Lolo Jones, and others.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s Disability: What Is Her Wrong With Her? Health Problem
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Jackie Joyner-Kersee, a four-time World Championship gold medalist, was diagnosed with asthma in the early 1980s as a UCLA student-athlete. Asthma may be considered a health issue rather than a disability unless it severely interferes with one’s daily life to meet the criteria for impairment.
Joyner kept her health issues hidden from her coach for fear of jeopardizing her athletic career. Her dreams were disintegrating right before her eyes. It took a long time for her to recognize she had asthma and needed to take medication. However, when she regained control, Jackie began to follow the doctor’s instructions for asthma management.
She made her Olympic debut in 1984, at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In the heptathlon, she took silver. Joyner-Kersee captured her first Olympic gold medal in 1988, winning two in the heptathlon and one in the long jump. She later won three medals in two consecutive Olympics:
At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, she won gold in the heptathlon and bronze in the long jump. At the Summer Olympics in Atlanta in 1996, he won a bronze medal in the long jump. She also won four gold medals at three World Championships (1987, 1991, and 1993), one at the 1987 Pan American Games, and four in the Good Will Games (1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998). As a result, Jakie became one of the most well-known athletes to have overcome severe asthma.
What Does Jackie Joyner Do?
The Illinois native was inspired to participate in athletics after seeing a movie by Babe Didrikson Zaharias, and she would soon join her on the list of the top female athletes of all time. After retiring from track and field, Jackie focused on campaigning and philanthropy. She started the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation in 1988 and serves as its president and CEO.
It empowers and fosters the athletic and academic development of East St. Louis teenagers. She is a vocal supporter of children’s education and health issues (especially asthma). In 2011, Jacqueline collaborated with Comcast to create the Internet Essentials service.
Joyner and her husband, track coach Bob Kersee, live in Illinois. They married in 1986. Previously, she tried relationships with ordinary people, but none of them worked out because her ex-boyfriends never supported her athletic career.
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