It's important to me to try and expose young people to the things they believe are off-limits to them. I tell them, 'There are no walls, only the ones we put up.' My advice to young people looking at my life is not to follow my footprint but to go out there and make their own.

84 m
Javelin throw : 50. She had red-shirted during the 1983-1984 academic year to concentrate on the heptathlon for the 1984 Summer Olympics. The Bruins advanced to the West Regional semi-finals of the 1985 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament before losing to eventual runner-up Georgia.

After retiring as a competitive athlete Joyner-Kersee has been involved with many philanthropic efforts and has joined the Board of Directors for USA Track & Field (USATF) the national governing body of the sport. Sports Illustrated for Women magazine voted Joyner-Kersee the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th century just ahead of Babe Didrikson Zaharias.