Al Joyner

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Al Joyner, born January 19, 1960 in East St. Louis, Illinois, United States, is an Olympic gold medalist in the triple jump.

Joyner was married to the late Florence Griffith-Joyner, a multiple Olympic medal-winning sprinter. They had one daughter Mary Ruth. His sister Jackie Joyner-Kersee is also an Olympic gold medalist. Joyner married for a second time on June 28, 2003 to Alisha Biehn. The couple has a daughter, Skylar Rose and a son, Jayden Alfrederick.

Joyner (legal name: Alfredrick Joyner) competed in the triple jump at Arkansas State University and earned the nickname "Sweetwater."

In 1984, Joyner traveled to Los Angeles for the Summer Olympics to compete in triple jump for the U.S. Olympic track and field team. With a leap of 17.26 m (56'-7.5"), he became the first American in 80 years to win a gold medal in this event. Al was also honored with the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given every four years to the best American competitor in an Olympic field event.

On Aug. 18, 2000 he joined the UCLA track and field staff to coach the Bruin women's jumps.

Along with his coaching activities, Joyner also directs the Flo Jo Community Empowerment Foundation and Final Kick Marketing Group. He is a member of the Arkansas State (1993), State of Illinois (1997) and State of Arkansas (1999) Sports Halls of Fame.

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Olympic champions in men's triple jump
1896: James Connolly | 1900: Myer Prinstein | 1904: Myer Prinstein | 1906: Peter O'Connor | 1908: Tim Ahearne | 1912: Gustaf Lindblom | 1920: Vilho Tuulos | 1924: Nick Winter | 1928: Mikio Oda | 1932: Chuhei Nambu | 1936: Naoto Tajima | 1948: Arne Åhman | 1952: Adhemar da Silva | 1956: Adhemar da Silva | 1960: Józef Szmidt | 1964: Józef Szmidt | 1968: Viktor Saneyev | 1972: Viktor Saneyev | 1976: Viktor Saneyev | 1980: Jaak Uudmäe | 1984: Al Joyner | 1988: Hristo Markov | 1992: Mike Conley | 1996: Kenny Harrison | 2000: Jonathan Edwards | 2004: Christian Olsson
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