JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE VS CHRIS EVERT.
DIVERSITY IN AMERICAN SPORT: SOCIAL CLASS ANALYSIS.
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1.
While growing up in two very different environments, both Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Chris Evert had very similar results in their respective sport. The accomplished this by hard work, commitment to goals they had set, and determination.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee was born into poverty. Her parents were very young. Her father was sixteen, and her mother was eighteen. She lived in the worst ghettos of East St. Louis, Illinois. Her house was located on Piggot and 15th behind a liquor store. Violence was a common thing in her neighborhood. Both her dance instructor and her grandmother were killed. Food and money were hard to come by. She often ate syrup or mayo sandwiches.
Despite growing up in the ghetto, she had athletic dreams at a very young age. Her and her brother would have mailbox races. They would race from the end of the block to the mailbox. Eventually, Jackie won. She had a strong backing from her first coach, Nino Faroy. He coached her in basketball and track while attending Lincoln. She made it to the state track meet during this time. She also got a scholarship to play basketball at UCLA.
While attending UCLA she ran track. Her coach, Bob Kersee, said that she was the greatest athlete he had ever seen. In 1980 she qualified for the Olympics. He was her coach there as well.
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In 1984 she qualified for the Olympics again. This time she was under the same coach, but he was now her husband as well. Despite being married her sexuality was often questioned because of her masculine body features.
