The word Superwoman might not be strong enough to describe Jackie Joyner-Kersee after she finishes competition in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.
Joyner-Kersee is entered in five events - the heptathlon, long jump, 100-meter hurdles, high jump and shot put. If all goes according to plan, she will compete in four, skipping the shot put.Still, that is a herculean task, especially considering that the heptathlon consists of seven events over two days under what are expected to be hot and humid conditions.
"I will let her make the call," Bob Kersee, her husband and coach, said. "The key is how much energy she will have to use up in the heptathlon."
The heptathlon, which includes the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 meters, long jump, javelin and 800 meters, begins Saturday, one day after the meet starts at Tad Gormley Stadium. The first four events will be held Saturday, the remaining three Sunday.
As for the other events, the high jump qualifying is Wednesday night; the 100 hurdles first round and long jump qualifying Friday night June 26, nearly three hours apart; the 100 hurdles quarterfinals, high jump final and hurdles semifinals June 27, within a 1 hour, 40 minute span, and the long jump and hurdles finals June 28, the final day of the meet, about two hours apart.
There was news off the track, too.
Michael Johnson stuck with his plan to run the 200 meters at Barcelona despite a last-ditch effort by the International Amateur Athletic Federation to entice him to run the 200 and 400.
After the IAAF said Wednesday it would move the Olympic 200 back one day until Aug. 6, so it would not conflict with the 400 final, scheduled for Aug. 5, Johnson said: "They are four or five days too late with their decision."
At Columbus, Ohio, 400-meter world record holder Butch Reynolds was at U.S. District Court defending his request for a federal court order allowing him to compete in the trials. A decision is not expected until Thursday at the earliest.
If Joyner-Kersee, the world record-holder in the heptathlon and the American record-holder in the long jump, were to make the U.S. team in all four events and medal in them all at the Barcelona Olympics, it would match the total of medals accumulated by her sister-in-law, Florence Griffith Joyner, at the 1988 Seoul Games.
Joyner-Kersee competed in two events at Seoul, the heptatlon and long jump, and won both, giving the family gold medals in five of the six events won by American women. The other U.S. women's winner was high jumper Louise Ritter. Griffith Joyner and Ritter are now retired from track and field competition.