Known for her outstanding athletic accomplishments as well as her sense of personal style, Florence Griffith Joyner (1959-1998) overcame difficult odds with her tenacious determination to achieve Olympic fame.

Born Florence Delorez Griffith on December 21, 1959 in Los Angeles. "Dee Dee," as she was nicknamed in her youth, was the seventh of eleven children. Her mother, also named Florence, had married Dee Dee's father, Robert Griffith, after moving to California in search of a modeling career. The large family was settled in the Mojave Desert when the elder Florence decided that she needed to improve the educational opportunities for her children. She left Robert in 1964 and moved the eleven children back to Los Angeles, into a neighborhood known as Watts. A single mother raising such a large family was a tough challenge but Dee Dee's mother always kept her hopes up for her children. Dee Dee recalls her mother...