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The Power of Flo Jo
The inimitable Florence Griffith Joyner was a force. A record-breaking and fashion-forward force. Though she’s best known for sprinting her way to the history books and rocking the ultra long nails and colorful one-legged track suits, she was also a business-savvy force. That savviness blazed a path for Black female athletes to take in becoming athletic icons and million dollar brands, writes Amira Rose Davis in a retrospective for ZORA earlier this year.
“From her brand development to her fashion line, from the way her body was policed to her unapologetic fusion of athletic excellence with Black femininity, Flo Jo created a playbook for Black female athletes who later built brands in their own image. The track icon’s shrewd business moves and aplomb made way for her colossal and continual cultural influence that extends far beyond any finish line she crossed.”
Above, Flo Jo, who would have been 61 today, created a rich legacy that lives within track and field stars Natasha Hastings and Sha’Carri Richardson and tennis legends Venus Williams and Serena Williams. Flo Jo showed us all that we have the power to shape what greatness looks like.
