Is Olympic athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee disabled? Technically, no, but she experienced health problems that almost derailed her promising sports career. Joyner-Kersee, considered one of the ‘greatest female athletes of all time’, was diagnosed with asthma in college. But with the right medicine and sheer determination, she didn’t let her physical limitations jeopardize her career. As a result, she won six Olympic medals, three of them gold, in four Olympic events. Jacqueline, aka Jackie, is a former American athlete who dominated the heptathlon and long jump. She was born on March 6, 1962. In 2023, she will have a net worth of $5 million.
She retired in the late 1990s after completing her athletic journey from college to the Olympics and World Championships. Since then she has worked as a lawyer and philanthropist. She was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. There is no doubt that she has been an inspiration to many female athletes around the world, including Sydney McLaughlin, Allyson Felix, Lolo Jones and many others.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s Disability: What’s Wrong With Her? Health problems
Jackie Joyner-Kersee, a four-time World Championship gold medalist, was diagnosed with asthma while a student athlete at UCLA in the early 1980s. Asthma can be considered a health problem rather than a handicap as long as it does not significantly interfere with a person’s daily life to meet impairment requirements. Joyner kept her health problems a secret from her coaches, fearing that it would jeopardize her athletic future. Her dreams were crumbling before her eyes. It took her a long time to realize that she had asthma and that she needed to take medicine.
However, as she regained control, Jackie began to follow her doctor’s recommendations to treat her asthma. She performed at her first Olympic Games in 1984, at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She won silver in the heptathlon. Joyner-Kersee won her first Olympic gold medal in 1988, winning two gold medals in the heptathlon and one in the long jump. Later, she won three medals at two consecutive Olympics:
Gold in the heptathlon and bronze in the long jump at the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992. Bronze medalist in the long jump at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. She also won four gold medals at three world championships (1987, 1991, and 1993), a gold medal at the 1987 Pan American Games, and four gold medals at the Goodwill Games ( 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998). Jakie became one of the most famous athletes who overcame severe asthma as a result.
What does Jackie Joyner do?
After being inspired to take up the sport after seeing a video of Babe Didrikson Zaharias, the Illinois native would eventually join her on the list of the greatest female athletes of all time. Jackie went into campaigning and charity work after retiring from athletics. She is the founder and executive director of the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation, which was established in 1988. It empowers and encourages the athletic and academic development of East St. adolescents. Louis.
She is an outspoken advocate for children’s education and health issues (especially asthma). Jacqueline worked with Comcast to develop the Internet Essentials program in 2011. Joyner lives in Illinois with her husband, track coach Bob Kersee. They got married in 1986. She previously tried to get into relationships with average people, but none of them worked because her ex-boyfriends never supported her sports career.
Categories: Entertaintment
Source: HIS Education