Flo-Jo, Elaine
& the 100m world record

Written and produced by Miriam Walker-Khan
Interviews by Ade Adedoyin, shot by Rasheed Speede

Records are meant to be broken, right? But there's one athletics record that has stood for so long, it seemed completely untouchable.

The event? The women's 100m.

The time? 10.49 seconds.

Set? 34 years ago.

Completely untouchable...
until now.

In one, jaw-dropping race at the US Olympic trials in Indianapolis almost 34 years ago, Florence Griffith Joyner went from a track star to a global icon, transcending her sport and reaching heights no-one believed was possible.

But who was Flo-Jo?

And how close is Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah to her record?

Florence Griffith Joyner was born on 21 December 1959 in Los Angeles.

The seventh of 11 children, she was faster than most of her brothers, and competitive with them too. By the time she was in primary school, she was already competing in track meets.

Griffith Joyner attended California State University, but dropped out when she was 19 to work in a bank so she could financially support her family.

Her coach Bob Kersee found funding for her so she could go back to university, and this time it was UCLA - a breeding ground for American sporting greats such as baseball player Jackie Robinson and tennis star Arthur Ashe.

At the 1980 American Olympic trials, a 20-year-old Griffith Joyner competed in the 200m, finishing fourth and missing out on an Olympic spot by just one place.

It was at those trials that she met her future coach and husband Al Joyner - the 1984 Olympic triple-jump champion and brother of Olympic heptathlon and long-jump legend Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

A few years and a proposal with flowers, violins and a limousine later, in 1987 Al Joyner and Florence Griffith married, and Florence became Flo-Jo. By this point she had won her first Olympic medal - silver, aged 24, in the 200m at her home Games in 1984.

After the 1984 Olympics, Flo-Jo went back to working in a bank, and, already a budding stylist, worked on her own designs and did manicures on the side. From 1985-86, her training took a back seat and she didn’t compete at the US Championships in 1985.

After only competing a handful of times during those two years, Flo-Jo returned to athletics full-time in 1987. Al Joyner and his brother-in-law Bob Kersee were on a mission to transform Flo-Jo into an Olympic champion.

Just four months after she returned to full-time training, Flo-Jo won a 200m silver medal at the 1987 World Championships in Rome, clocking under 22 seconds for the first time.

It was then that she ramped up her training - focusing on nutrition and lifting weights with one clear goal: to qualify for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul...

... but before the medals came the fashion.

“You can wear anything you want if you're ready to go when the guns go off. You're going to run fast regardless. Make-up is not going to stop you. The outfit is not going to stop you.”

Florence Griffith Joyner

Flo-Jo became famous for the outfits she wore on the track. She was fast and fierce.

It was like nothing anyone in the athletics world had seen before. She lit up the track wearing hooded speed-skating bodysuits, vibrant bikini bottoms and lace onesies. And she designed her own looks - she could knit, sew and crochet.

Her husband says she experimented with her track outfits at college because she found UCLA's track uniforms boring. In 1988 she began wearing what she called "one-leggers", which came about after she accidentally cut one leg shorter than another.

"I started laughing and she said: 'I'm wearing this.' And that's how it started," said Joyner.

Joyner recalls Flo-Jo packing for the US Olympic trials in 1988.

"She brought over 100 and something outfits, because I remember carrying the suitcase. She always carried a lot of clothes," he laughed.

"Florence believed that
when you looked good,
you performed well,
and she always did.
She totally believed
that."

Al Joyner

But it wasn't just what she wore - it was her nails too.

And most of the time she did her own manicures.

For the Olympic Games in 1988, her nails were six inches long, painted red, white, blue, gold and most definitely on fleek.

Flo-Jo was the first woman to unapologetically bring her fashion to a sporting arena, and she did it in style.

She paved the way for women to be themselves on the track and 30 years later, on the biggest athletics stages, the impact Flo-Jo had on the sport is evident everywhere you look.

Jamaica's Grace Jackson, who won a silver medal in the 200m behind Flo-Jo at the 1988 Olympics, called her style "brave". She said Flo-Jo dressed to impress, which was how she wanted to perform.

"I think many women would have looked on and said: 'Well, this is cool.' Women were more empowered to say: 'Oh, I can do things differently.'"

Flo-Jo's style is an important part of her legacy, and it transcended her sport too.

"I was inspired by Flo-Jo, who was a wonderful track athlete, an amazing athlete when I was growing up."

"Watching her fashion, just always changing. Her outfits were always amazing."

Serena Williams, Australian Open, 2021

But it wasn't just what she wore that was unique. It was her talent, too.

On 16 July 1988, Flo-Jo solidified her place in the history books and became a global icon overnight.

The American Olympic trials and national championships were taking place in Indianapolis, and this time Flo-Jo was set to qualify for the 100m as well as the 200m.

She was in excellent form. Weeks before, she had run a new personal best (PB) of 10.89 seconds in the 100m. That was still slower than the three best times of then American record-holder Evelyn Ashford, the fastest of which was 10.76.

But Al Joyner was confident on behalf of his wife, and he had reason to be.

"I said: 'You're gonna break that… you're gonna run about 10.5. That's what time I run in the 100m and you've been beating me.'"

In the quarter-finals of the 100m, Flo-Jo stood on the start line in her one-legged, lightning bolt unitard, looking confident and calm.

No-one could anticipate how fast she was about to run.

From 50m, Flo-Jo dominated and, incredibly, seemed to still be accelerating right until the last few metres of the race. As she crossed the line, the clock stopped at a time that shocked the world.

10.49 seconds.

The time obliterated the world record by nearly three tenths of a second.

"I was just ecstatic," Al Joyner said. "That 10.49 was a beautiful race. Dreams do come true."

No-one could believe a woman could run that fast - even the commentators questioned it. 10.49 was faster than the men’s 100m records in several countries, including Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Turkey. It was the biggest improvement in the 100m world record since the introduction of electronic timing.

People quickly pointed out it was an extremely windy day. The wind gauge for the 100m race read 0.0, but on the opposite side of the track - on the triple-jump runway where Al Joyner was competing - the wind reading was 4.3 metres per second - more than double the legal limit.

"You're listening to the dialogue. That line of conversation was very strong in our minds, my mind as well. It was always very questionable."

Grace Jackson

That day, all the other wind readings for the 100m races were strongly wind-assisted, with no other zero or negative readings.

Despite the record being deemed legal, the International Athletics Annual of the Association of Track and Field Statisticians has since listed the run as "probably strongly wind-assisted, but recognised as a world record".

The next day Flo-Jo had a semi-final and final to run. In the final, she ran 10.61 seconds, and this time the wind reading was a legal +1.2.

Over those two days and four rounds of the 100m, Flo-Jo ran the three fastest times in history.

"Go out there and make them think you're on jet fuel"

Al Joyner

Flo-Jo went on to win the 100m and 200m at the Seoul Olympics, with the 4x100m relay making her a triple Olympic champion.

"If you go back and look at the film of her running mechanics in '84 and then look again at '88, that's the difference. That's the secret. Hard work, sleeping right, eating right. And then she had a special gift from God," Al Joyner told BBC Sport.

"I said: 'Honey, go out there and make them think you're on jet fuel'."

In the 100m final, she ran a wind-assisted 10.54 seconds.

In the 200m semi-final, she broke the world record which had stood for nine years. Less than two hours later, she broke her own record when she stormed to victory in the final in a time of 21.34 seconds. It was an improvement of 0.22 secs from the semi-final, and over half a second in the past year.

"She really was the superstar that was at the epicentre of my athletics career."

Lord Sebastian Coe

But for many, the margins of those improvements placed an invisible asterisk next to Flo-Jo's name and records.

She was running in an era when doping in men's sprinting dominated the headlines. The Seoul Olympics were no exception, overshadowed by Canada's Ben Johnson winning the men's 100m but later testing positive for steroids.

Flo-Jo's performances raised questions, with allegations her dramatic improvements were aided by performance-enhancing drugs gathering momentum. People began to question how she could have run 10.49 for the 100m when just a year before her PB was almost half a second slower.

Flo-Jo was drug-tested regularly, including 11 times in 1988, but never tested positive for banned substances.

In February 1989, at the age of 29, she retired suddenly, causing the drugs rumour mill to go into overdrive. Surely she was at the peak of her career? Why retire now?

Her critics believed her retirement was due to fear of being caught doping, with the recent introduction of random drug-testing.

"It wasn't hiding anything, we already had all the drug-testing, she got tested more than anybody. We told them: 'You can still drug-test her every day of the week if you want to,'" Al Joyner told BBC Sport

"They attacked my whole family. They attacked almost the stability of people who did hard work and then tried to paint everybody with their brush.

"When people are running the times they're running now, what are they saying? I don't hear no drug situation now. Because it was never about drugs. It was about hard work, dedication."

Joyner says it was him who asked Flo-Jo to retire so they could start a family.

"She wanted to become a mum," he said.

The following year, Flo-Jo gave birth to a baby girl.

In 1998, at the age of just 38, Flo-Jo died in her sleep.
An epileptic seizure was the cause of her death.

Flo-Jo had a rare disease and lesion on her brain that caused seizures, a problem which had only surfaced when she gave birth to her daughter.

"I remember calling 911, hoping they'd tell me it was a dream."

Al Joyner

"We were dazzled by her speed, humbled by her talent, and captivated by her style."

Former US President Bill Clinton

In over 30 years, no athlete had run within touching distance of Flo-Jo's 100m record.

But all that changed in 2021.

At the postponed Tokyo Olympics, defending champion Elaine Thompson-Herah broke Flo-Jo’s Olympic record en route to winning gold in 10.61. The event became the focal point of track and field at the Games.

Three days later, the Jamaican became the first woman in history - and the second athlete ever after compatriot Usain Bolt - to win consecutive Olympic 100m and 200m titles.

It was made even more impressive by the fact Thompson-Herah had suffered from a severe Achilles injury which led her to pull out of the World Championship final in 2019.

She told BBC Sport the injury almost ended her career.

"I remember most mornings, coming down the stairs backwards because I couldn't plant my foot down properly because it was so sore and stiff in the morning. It was very painful."

"Sometimes in the back of my head, I said: 'Why am I still here trying, why am I still running?'"

"I don't know what that emotion was in me. Everything was just coming out. I don't know where that comes from."

Elaine Thompson-Herah after winning her second Olympic 100m title

"But it was a relief after bouncing back. I was in drought and the rain fell down on me and I was so overwhelmed and happy."

Elaine Thompson-Herah after winning her second Olympic 100m title

A few weeks after making history at the Olympics, the Jamaican reached heights many believed were unreachable - clocking 10.54 seconds at the Eugene Diamond League in August.

But after running just five hundredths of a second slower than so many believed to be an unbreakable record, what did the 29-year-old think of the race?

"I didn't feel that fast," she said. "So when I saw 10.54, I was like: 'I had the most horrible race in my life, it didn't feel that fast!'"

"I felt as if I ran a 10.9 or 11.0, not 10.5."

But it was fast. Faster than any woman had run since 1988.

Thompson-Herah was making the impossible seem possible.

"I believe she can do just as good, or even better, than Flo-Jo has done."

Bert Cameron, 400m world champion, 1983

'Her catalyst is Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce'

But what exactly is it that's spurring on Thompson-Herah?

Grace Jackson, who won a 200m silver medal behind Flo-Jo at the 1988 Olympics, has an idea…

"When you get close enough to a target, and you set your sights on the target, something happens. There must be a catalyst that drives you to get to that target. Let me tell you the catalyst that I believe Elaine has. Her catalyst is Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce"

Just like Flo-Jo was pushed to breaking records by chasing her compatriot and rival Evelyn Ashford, Thompson-Herah has a former training partner and eight-time Olympic medallist to chase.

Enter, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

"I'm here to see the show because the clash is wonderful."

Usain Bolt

At five feet tall, Fraser-Pryce - nicknamed the 'Pocket Rocket' for her explosive starts and ability to zoom past a field of sprinters - is the first Caribbean and Jamaican woman to win a 100m Olympic title.

And the most decorated 100m sprinter of all time.

She had been expected to defend her title at the 2017 World Championships in London, but rather than racing in the 100m final, she went into labour while watching it.

Despite expectations she would retire, the Jamaican was back training 10 weeks after her son Zyon was born. Less than a year later, she was back competing, breastfeeding while competing at Diamond Leagues.

In 2018 on her ninth race back, she broke the 11-second barrier. Her PB was 10.70, set in 2012, but since returning to the track after her pregnancy she had run times of 11.5, 11.3, 11.2 and 11.1 seconds. Going sub-11 was a moment.

Since then, the 35-year-old has been in the best form of her life, winning World Championship gold in 2019, and in 2021 running 10.63 seconds - then the second fastest time in history.

Five days later she lowered her PB to 10.60.

With such tight margins, not even the legendary Usain Bolt can predict who will run faster.

"I wish them all the best and I'm just gonna watch - I'm here to see the show because the clash is wonderful," he told BBC Sport.

"One time Elaine wins and then Shelly wins. So it's good for the sport and it makes it a lot more exciting because you never know who's gonna win on the day."

"They're both Jamaican so I'm happy."

Usain Bolt

After the season of her life in 2021, Thompson-Herah decided to leave her coach Stephen Francis and team up with her husband Derron Herah.

"I think I have outgrown a situation. I wanted to do things my way, to better my life.

"The things that I want to achieve, the aspirations that I have. And I think forming my own group and my own team will help me to get there," she told BBC Sport.

Herah says it's a big job, but also "an easy job in a sense that I'm dealing with a very professional person".

Tensions between Fraser-Pryce and Thompson-Herah were apparent after the 100m Olympic final, when Fraser-Pryce was in no hurry to congratulate her former training partner.

Francis has since said the "catalyst" for Fraser-Pryce leaving his training group in 2020 was "her relationship with Elaine".

'A lot left to unleash'

All of that adds more intrigue - but what impact could have on the sport if this record is broken? Lord Sebastian Coe, the head of World Athletics, says when records are broken "you treasure them".

"It's a sign of a healthy and vibrant sport that records change hands," he told BBC Sport.

"Any world record that's stood for the best part of 40 years that gets broken is a moment of celebration. And it's also a huge moment for the sport because it suddenly sets a fresh benchmark. It creates a whole new generation of ambition and inspiration."

"There's a lot left there to unleash. Everybody wants a taste of that 10.6, of the gold medal," Thompson-Herah told BBC Sport.

"That record was set when I wasn't even born. This year I'll be 30 years old and to see myself as a 30-year-old sprinter breaking Flo-Jo's record would be something very spectacular.

"That would be writing all over the history books - that cannot be erased."

And her husband believes she has a lot more in store.

"I don't see any limits," he said. "I know she can go close to 10.30."

Now it's up to Thompson-Herah and Fraser-Pryce to replicate the times they produced last season.

And with Fraser-Pryce clocking 10.67 - a time bettered by just four other women in history - in her first race of the season, it's looking promising.

For Thompson-Herah, competing in July's World Championships back on the same track on which she ran the second fastest time in history will be a huge motivator. Especially considering the 29-year-old is yet to win her first world title.

With other major competitions across the calendar - including the Commonwealth Games in July and the European Championships in August -it's a hugely important year for athletics, and everyone will be bringing their A-game.

Could mission impossible be within touching distance?