Joyner Tops Heptathlon Mark Again

Bob Kersee the coach and Bob Kersee the husband were having an argument Saturday night. Kersee’s athlete/wife, Jackie Joyner, was going to have to experience no small amount of pain in the 800 meters in order to break her own world record in the heptathlon.

So even as Joyner was running to a world record of 7,161 points, Kersee had a raging interior argument.

“This is the first time that the husband and the coach were battling,” Kersee said. “I was tired, and I knew she had to be. The husband wanted to walk up to her and ask her if she was dizzy. The husband was saying, ‘Don’t hurt yourself.’

“The coach was saying, ‘Dammit, you dragged me 7,000 miles back and forth, let’s go for it.’ ”

Less than one month after first breaking the heptathlon record at the Goodwill Games in Moscow, Joyner dragged her husband of eight months back to the U.S. Olympic Festival and made the trip worthwhile. The record came before an estimated Robertson Stadium crowd of 16,500, including Joyner’s father and her brother, Al.

Joyner also became the first heptathlete to score more than 3,000 points on the second day of competition.

The 24-year-old woman from Los Angeles won each of the seven events in the two-day competition. She set two world-event bests and five personal bests.

As almost always happens, the outcome of the hepthalon was decided in the last event. Joyner came into the 800 meters eight points ahead of her own world-record pace. She knew she had to complete the event in at least 2 minutes 10.55 seconds to break the record.

She started in Lane 7 and broke at the first curve in second place, behind the best heptathlon 800-meter runner in the nation, Lana Zimmerman. Zimmerman said she took it out too fast.

Joyner said: “I had doubts that I would make it when I was coming around the quarter in the 800 meters. I knew I was all right when I got my second wind. Winning this was a lot harder than Moscow. There was more personal motivation. It feels great. I wanted to do this in the United States.”

Joyner’s 2:09.69 gave her enough points to break the world record by 13. And with handicaps of intense heat and lukewarm competition, Joyner was thrilled with her performance.

Not only was it another hot day, but also, a few brooding thunderclouds hung above the stadium, though blocking the sun only intermittently. Joyner sought relief from the heat by sitting in the shade of a concrete wall. It was a trade-off: She was shaded from the sun, but the heat emanating from the wall seared into her back.

Still, she sat, lost in thoughts that could only be read by Bob Kersee. She was pondering her goals for the day. The previous night she had said: “I would like to go seven meters (22 feet 11 3/4 inches) in the long jump, throw competitively in the javelin and run about 2:08 in the 800.”

Her first long jump was mediocre. On her second, she came pounding down the runway and far into the pit, but she appeared to have fouled on the jump. Officials squatted around the takeoff board for an agonizingly long two minutes as Joyner waited.

The white flag went up, thus allowing Joyner’s jump of 23-0 3/4. It was another world best in the event. She was three points ahead of her record pace.

“I always come close,” Joyner said. “When I saw him reach down for that white flag, I was glad. I knew I didn’t have to jump anymore.”

She moved to the javelin, where a favorable head wind was blowing. Joyner launched a personal best of 164-5, after which she was eight points ahead of her record pace going into the 800.

That she could continue such a pace over two days was remarkable.

Joyner set it up Friday on a steam bath of a day. Houston was into its seventh day of 100-degree temperatures and 80% humidity. Officials at the stadium checked the temperature on the track level and found it to be 120 degrees.

It was the kind of heat that caused officials at the water polo event to dump 60,000 pounds of ice into the pool over two days and that caused 52 gallons of water to be drunk at the soccer venue in one day.

Joyner started with a dud in the 100-meter hurdles. Her time of 13.16, giving her 1,100 points, was inauspicious considering that she ran 12.85 in Moscow.

From there, the eight heptathletes moved to the high jump. Joyner’s jump of 6-2 equaled her personal best and gave her 1,080 points in the event. The high jump was the impetus that propelled her to world-record range.

Her throw of 49-10 1/2 in the shotput was worth 879 points and, more importantly, was a personal best in an event she detests.

“I’ve worked really hard on the throws and I think it’s going to make the difference,” Joyner said.

The final event of the first day is the 200 meters, a sprint at the end of an energy-sapping day. Joyner’s muscle type is defined as a sprinter-jumper. She has a predominance of fast-twitch muscle fibers. To fire that kind of explosive muscle movement, an athlete needs energy.

Where Joyner found the energy to do what she did in the 200 Friday night, no one knows. What she did, in the twilight, was run 22.85, a world best in the heptathlon 200. That gave her 4,148 points after the first day, three points behind her record pace from Moscow.

“I went and got a rubdown and worked out the kinks,” Joyner said.

And Saturday, she got another record.