Jackie Joyner Kersee To Receive NCAA Silver Anniversary Award Former Bruin and Olympic gold medalist one of six recipients of this year's honor
Jackie Joyner Kersee

Jackie Joyner Kersee

Nov. 20, 2009

One of UCLA's most storied student-athletes, Jackie Joyner Kersee, has been named one of six recipients of this year's NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, the NCAA announced on Friday.

Joyner Kersee joins Doug Flutie, Jack Del Rio, Gregg Carr, Maureen O'Toole-Purcell and Deb Richards as this year's honorees. Cormac Carney (football) and Dr. Dot Richardson (softball) were the most recent Bruins to earn this honor in 2007-08.

The Silver Anniversary Award winners will be recognized in January during the Honors Celebration at the 2010 NCAA Convention in Atlanta.

Joyner Kersee was a standout on the track and on the basketball court for the Bruins. A six-time Olympic medalist, she still holds the world record in the heptathlon and was named the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated (1991). Below is a list of Joyner Kersee's achievements throughout her career in athletics and philanthropy.

Collegiate achievements

  • School and NCAA record holder in long jump and heptathlon
  • Two-time NCAA champion in the heptathlon (1982 and 1983)
  • Recipient of the 1984-85 Honda Broderick Cup as the top female athlete in the nation
  • Four-year starter on the Bruins women's basketball team
  • First-team all-Pacific-10 selection in basketball

    Professional achievements

  • Six-time Olympic medalist in the long jump and heptathlon (three golds, one silver and three bronzes)
  • Became the first woman to compile more than 7,000 points in the heptathlon at the 1986 Goodwill Games
  • Four-time world champion in the long jump and the heptathlon
  • IAAF world record holder in the heptathlon
  • USA Track and Field American record holder in the long jump
  • Three-time Track and Field News World Athlete of the Year
  • Named as the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated (1991)

    Professional and civic contributions

  • Raised more than $12 million to build the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Youth Center Foundation in her hometown of East St. Louis, Illinois
  • Co-founder of Jackie Joyner-Kersee Racing (NASCAR)
  • Motivational speaker
  • Spokesperson for asthma sufferers and the Nike PLAY program
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