Words by Shayni Solanki
The fastest woman on record, Flo-Jo was a once-in-a-lifetime talent. No one could do it like her.
Florence Griffith was an Black-American track star back in the 1980s. After marrying Olympic triple jump champion Al Joyner and taking his surname, she became known as Flo-Jo. She rose to fame as a track star not just because of her insane talent, but because she was simply unique.
To this day Flo-Jo holds the record for being the fastest woman ever recorded. Her 1988 Olympic 100m time of 10.49 seconds is undefeated 35 years after she set the record. Some have managed to come close, but no one has ever done it.
Recently, Sha’Carri Richardson clocked in 10.65 seconds at the Olympic 100m women’s final. 10.65 is an amazing feat for sure, but it’s still not close to topping Flo-Jo’s record just yet. Another who tried to break the record this year was Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, yet still it stands.
Flo-Jo did more than just break and set records: she became an icon. Even to this day, women with long nails get told by their elders that Flo-Jo did it first, after her 15cm nails made headlines. She proved that accessories and looks have no part in performance. Flo-Jo topped the times, and had the best nail set while doing it.
In a world where Black women are still policed on their looks, Flo-Jo showed what really mattered. It was never really about the nails – people just acted like it was. Even when Sha’Carri and Shelly’Ann race now, people still raise questions about their hair and nails. The real feat is Shelly’Ann fixing her wig mid-race and still finishing second.
There was a period in her career where she was targeted with allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. We all know the 1980s were not exactly a sober decade, but Flo-Jo was singled out by opposition. After greatly improving her times, form, and physique, people began to accuse her of taking drugs.
No one seemed to grasp that a woman – a Black woman at that – could be that fast and that talented. The thing is, Flo-Jo never actually failed a drug test. In 1989 Darrel Robinson (her former teammate) accused her of buying drugs from him but had zero evidence to back himself up.
When she passed at 38 years old, just a couple years after retiring, her autopsy showed no signs of drug usage either. This level of scrutiny surely comes from a place of jealousy or disbelief. Somehow it just had to be drug use, instead of generational talent.
Flo-Jo has a legacy that cannot be tainted. No one could ever do it like Flo-Jo and, 35 years later, still no one can.