63 The World’s Greatest Athlete?

Many people are good in one athletic event. A few excel in two. But very few can compete in a sport requiring skill in seven different events. Jackie Joyner-Kersee is someone who could. Some have called her the world’s greatest athlete.

Even as a child, Jackie Joyner wanted to do well in many sports. In high school she competed in volleyball, basketball, and track. Basketball was her favorite sport then. She attended college on a four-year basketball scholarship. She became a basketball All-American.

After marrying her coach, Bob Kersee, Jackie began focusing on track. One of her best events was always the long jump. Over the years Joyner-Kersee has won many long jump medals. These include an Olympic gold medal and several world championships.

What about the sport with seven different events? It is called the heptathlon. Besides long jump, it includes events like hurdles, high jump, and shot put. Joyner-Kersee competed in this sport in four different Olympics. She won two gold medals and one silver.

Joyner-Kersee has succeeded for two reasons. Her great athletic ability is one thing. But she also possesses great mental toughness. That toughness helped her triumph in spite of her serious asthma and allergies.

Joyner-Kersee’s last Olympics was in 1996. After that, she played professional basketball for a while. She did one final heptathlon in 1998 and then retired at the age of thirty-six.

许多人擅长一项体育项目，少数人擅长两项，但极少有人能参与需要七种不同项目技能的运动。杰基·乔伊纳-克西就是这样的人，有人称她为世界上最伟大的运动员。

还是个孩子的时候，杰基·乔伊纳就想在多项运动中表现出色。高中时，她参加了排球、篮球和田径比赛，当时篮球是她最喜欢的运动。她凭借四年制篮球奖学金上了大学，还成为了全美篮球明星。

嫁给教练鲍勃·克西后，杰基开始专注于田径。跳远一直是她最擅长的项目之一。多年来，乔伊纳-克西赢得了许多跳远奖牌，包括一枚奥运金牌和多个世界冠军。

那项包含七种不同项目的运动是什么呢？它叫七项全能。除了跳远，还包括跨栏、跳高、铅球等项目。乔伊纳-克西在四届奥运会上参加了这项运动，赢得了两枚金牌和一枚银牌。

乔伊纳-克西的成功有两个原因：一是她出色的运动能力，二是她强大的精神韧性。这种韧性帮助她克服了严重的哮喘和过敏症，取得了成功。

乔伊纳-克西最后一次参加奥运会是在1996年。之后，她打了一段时间的职业篮球。1998年，她完成了最后一次七项全能比赛，随后在36岁时退役。