Top American Female Olympians

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Aug 8, 2008

Top American Female Olympians

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

After winning a silver medal in the heptathlon at the 1984 Olympics, Joyner-Kersee won gold in 1988 with a world-record 7,291 points, a mark that still stands. She also won gold in the long jump, an event in which she still owns the American record, and repeated as heptathlon champion in 1992.

Jenny Thompson

The 12-time gold medalist competed in four Olympics, winning eight relay golds and two individual medals. As the oldest member of the U.S. Olympic swimming team in 2004, at 31, she won sliver medals on the 400-meter freestyle and medley relays.

Mary Lou Retton

Retton became the first and only American to win the Olympic All-Around title, doing so at the 1984 Olympics, where she also won silver medals in the vault and team competitions and bronze in the uneven bars and floor exercise. Her five medals were the most of any athlete at the Los Angeles games.

Janet Evans

At 15, Evans broke world records in the 400, 800, and 1500-meter freestyle one year before winning three individual gold medals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She added gold in the 800 and silver in the 400 in 1992. Her world record in the 800 still stands.

Gail Devers

Diagnosed with Graves' disease in 1990, Devers went on to back-to-back gold medals in the 100 meters in 1992 and 1996, also adding a gold in the 4x100-meter relay in 1996. A three-time world champion in the 100-meter hurdles, she fell short in her favorite event at the Olympics.

Evelyn Ashford

Four years after winning gold in the 100 meters and the 4x100 meter relay in 1984, Ashford was the American flag-bearer at the Seoul Olympics, where she won another gold in the 4x100 and silver in the 100 meters. Competing in four Olympics, she added a fourth gold in the 4x100 in 1992.

Gwen Torrence

A five-time medalist, Torrence won the gold in the 200 meters and 4x100 meter relay as well as silver in the 4x400 meter relay in Barcelona. She added bronze in the 100 meters and gold in the 4x100 meter relay four years later.

Florence Griffith-Joyner

Still the "World's Fastest Woman," with world records in both the 100 and 200 meters, Griffith-Joyner won three gold medals in 1988 with her red, white, and blue painted fingernails.