Olympic champ Al Joyner joining masters in Boston
For several years, noises have been made about 1984 Olympic TJ champ Al Joyner (Mr. Flo-Jo and brother of Jackie) making a masters comeback. Now we have some hard evidence. The “status of entries” page for the Boston masters indoor nationals lists an Alfrederick Joyner in the M45 triple jump, with a qualifying mark of 16.00 meters (that’s 52 feet, 6 inches)! Dunno where that mark was made, but it exceeds the listed indoor M45 world record by almost 4 feet.
The listed record is 14.82 (48-7 1/2) by Milan Tiff at age 46 in 1995.
Of course, marks submitted for the indoor nationals can be made outdoors or indoors — and aren’t even necessary. The USATF masters nationals is an all-comers meet, with no qualifying marks needed, but the USATF Web site posts “qualifying marks” just it would for open nationals.
Al’s best mark all-time is a wind-assisted hop-step jump of 17.58 (57-8 1/4) in 1988.
In 2004, Joyner submitted a mark for the Olympic Trials but didn’t show.
Thanks to Pete Taylor for spotting AJ’s name on the entry list.
Taylor also notes the entry presence of longtime masters champion (and Masters Hall of Famer and 1972 Olympian) Tom Gage in the M60 throws at Boston.
