Jackie Joyner-Kersee has been described as the greatest multi-event track and field athlete of all time. An Olympian to be reckoned with since 1984, Joyner-Kersee is the first American woman ever to win a gold medal in the long jump and the first woman in history to earn more than 7,000 points in the grueling seven-event heptathlon. (The heptathlon consists of the 200- and 800-meter dashes, the 100-meter hurdles, and four field events: the high jump, long jump, shot put, and javelin throw. Points are awarded for an athlete's performance in each event.) Joyner-Kersee has won three Olympic gold medals, one silver, and two bronze, and has held the world record in the heptathlon since 1986. Her achievements have made her one of America's favorite track athletes.

Born Jacqueline Joyner on March 3, 1962, Joyner-Kersee grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois, a poor city on the Mississippi River. Her parents, Alfred and...