Florence Griffith Joyner

Florence Griffith Joyner — Flo-Jo — is the fastest woman who ever lived. Her world records in the 100 meters (10.49) and 200 meters (21.34), set at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, have stood for over 35 years and may never be broken. She won three gold medals and a silver at those Games.

But Flo-Jo was more than speed. She transformed the aesthetics of track and field with her signature one-legged running suits, six-inch nails, and flowing hair. She proved that femininity and ferocity were not opposites — they were fuel.

Growing up in the Watts projects of Los Angeles, she was the seventh of eleven children. Her mother encouraged her flair for fashion and her father pushed her athletics. She combined both into a persona that made track and field appointment viewing for millions.