Olympic gold medalist headlines athletes banquet

Olympic star Jackie Joyner-Kersee met a capacity crowd at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes Banquet in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Tuesday, saying it was a great feeling to be back in town.

"It really is a great feeling, to see family, and I have so many great memories here. There is just a lot of love here," she said.

More than 100 people turned out for the annual banquet, Southeast Missouri FCA's largest fundraiser of the year, to meet the six-time Olympic medal winner, who still holds the Poplar Bluff stadium record for the long jump at 19 feet, 10 inches and competed there many times as a young athlete in summer AAU track meets.

Joyner-Kersee participated in her first Olympics in 1984 in Los Angeles, winning a silver in the heptathlon. From there, she won golds in the long jump and heptathlon in the 1988 games at Seoul, Korea; a gold in heptathlon and a bronze in the long jump at the 1992 games in Barcelona, Spain; and a bronze for the long jump in her final Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta.

She also won two gold medals in the 1987 World Championships in Rome, a gold in the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo and a gold in the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.

She attended college at UCLA, where she participated in track and basketball. She was named one of the 15 greatest players in the history of UCLA's women's basketball.

Prior to the event, Joyner-Kersee said the FCA is important in bringing young people together in a positive way.

"We know that if we don't have God in our lives it is extremely difficult," Joyner-Kersee said. "I know for me, I know where my blessings come from. And I know the people who have come into my life are people who care about me."

Area FCA representative Bill Ray said Joyner-Kersee is a model of the FCA core values of integrity, service, teamwork and excellence.

"She is very humble person, although she is known throughout the world. Service, she is putting back in the East St. Louis community because she knows what they did for her. Excellence, that's pretty easy to see. Teamwork, she is a real team player," Ray said.

During the banquet, Ray hosted a Q&A with Joyner-Kersee, posing questions about her rise from "humble beginnings" to later being named Sports Illustrated's "Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century."

"I grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois, and our family didn't have a whole lot materialistically, but we had a lot of love in our home. My mom and dad always raised us to be the best, work hard, be respectful when we are out and about," Joyner-Kersee said.

When she was 9 years old, she became involved in the local community center and participated in many programs there, which eventually led to her love for track and field.

"At that time at the community center, I would sign up for different things, track, I was a cheerleader, I did it all. I did so much that my mom finally said 'quit' because of all the strangers calling and, 'You can't do all of that,'" Joyner-Kersee said, laughing.

Joyner-Kersee, who has her own community center in her hometown, described how the community supported her and how her love of running developed -- around the block with her sisters and in the park as a child, as no track was nearby.

"I really wasn't one of the best girls and in my first competition," she said. "I finished last in the 400 meters. I really loved running, but I didn't know what it was going to take for me to be one of the best. My coaches continued to believe in me and tell me to work hard.

"During the summer, I would go out to the park and try to run a certain distance. The next time, I would try to go two meters farther than I did before. I set my sights on just trying to improve a 10th of a second if running or a half an inch if I was jumping. And I was getting better," Joyner-Kersee said.

While touching on many of the challenges and high points of her career, Joyner-Kersee also discussed a bad experience years ago in Poplar Bluff, when her jump in an AAU meet was not recorded by officials.

In her autobiography, "A Kind of Grace," she described her frustration on that day, but on Tuesday took a different stance, saying the years have caused her to see that incident much differently -- putting the blame on herself for walking away to compete in another event before officials had a chance.

"I left the area and probably went to another event and never saw the official record the mark. I was really upset, and coach was telling me to wipe my tears and from here on out, make sure I saw my mark being recorded.

"I was hurt by it, but when you are young and immature ... one thing really had nothing to do with the other, and I call it a lesson learned. I carry that with me through all of my competitions. There are no hard feelings, and life goes on," she said.