The Healthy Edit

A Conversation Worth its Weight in Gold – An Inspirational Sit-Down with Olympic athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee

HealthCorps

With the Tokyo Olympics right around the corner, what better way to usher in what will be non-traditional Olympic games, than with a conversation about mental strength, resilience and believing in yourself.

In this episode of Healthy Chats, HealthCorps CEO Amy Braun sits down with Board of Advisor member, the legendary Jackie Joyner-Kersee.  

Having been dubbed ‘The Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century’ by Sports Illustrated, Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s athletic accomplishments are literally second to none.  By the conclusion of her career in the heptathlon and long jump events she had amassed six Olympic medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze) and four World Champion titles over four consecutive Olympic Games. Jackie was the first woman in history to earn more than 7,000 points in the heptathlon and today, over 20 years later, she still holds the world heptathlon record of 7,291 points. She continues to hold the Olympic and national records in the long jump and her 1994 performance in the long jump remains the second longest in history.

Jackie came from very humble beginnings and describes her early home life as being full of love, principle and discipline.  These ingrained values have served Jackie well both on and off the field through her life.  She has been described by the sports media as one of the warmest, most even-tempered, grace-filled persons in all of athletics.

In 1988, Jackie established the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation as the vehicle through which she provides youth, adults and families with the resources to improve their quality of life, HealthCorps is proud to partner with her foundation and provide our programming to the teens it serves.

Her advice to all of us, young and old?  Believe in yourself.  

Never miss an episode of Healthy Chats by subscribing on your favorite platform and following us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @healthcorps and on our teen channel @teenhealthvibe on Instagram.

Support the show