The missing and the missed at Boston nationals
In early February, I excitedly mentioned the entry of an “Alfrederick Joyner” in the M45 triple jump at the Boston masters nationals. He’s otherwise known as Al Joyner, brother of JJK and an Olympic champ himself (in 1984). (He also was the husband of the late Florence Griffith Joyner, aka FloJo.) But Boston came and went — with no Joyner in the results. I wrote to several people, and all agreed he simply didn’t show up (or call to say why). But I’ve also learned a possible reason for his mysterious absence: family duties.
A source close to Al wrote:
“I saw him at the San Clemente H.S. Invitational where his daughter Mary was running and high jumping (5’2″) for Tesoro H.S. Also, his wife gave birth earlier in the month to their first son.”
So I Googled for “Al Joyner” remarried and found a dead link to a site that at one time suggested he got hitched again in June 2003.
Then later I got this further note:
“His wife’s name is Alisha Biehn. They’ve been married for almost 3 years now. They have a daughter Skylar (2 years old) and a son Jayden Alfrederick Joyner (under 1 mo). He coaches at the Olympic Training Center and also does some private coaching (professional ballplayers mainly).”
I Googled Alisha Joyner and came across a wedding magazine’s Web site, which covered the nuptials and posted a slide show of the happy couple’s event! More details on the marriage are available here.
So no wonder! He’s got a pooping machine to change and a wife to spell.
Hang in there, champ. Diapers aren’t forever.
I also learned from meet announcer Pete Taylor what the Boston organizers did to recognize the recent passing of M70 sprinter Paul Johnson:
“I gave a very brief statement (in which I reported that from at least one source Paul had taken actions in those last moments that may have saved many lives on the ground). Apparently, Paul had made an impression on far more people than I realized. Jim Stookey told me about his help, and of course Courtland Gray was helped by Paul. The other Paul Johnson (racewalker) was stunned. We observed about 30 seconds of silence (this was right before Paul’s 400 [M70, Saturday]), in which he was actually given lane 6). I noted that lane 6 had been left open for Paul.”
(Since only three M70s ran the race, nobody was displaced by the honor, BTW.)
OK, now that THOSE questions are resolved, on to bigger and better ones.
For starters: What’s up with the Hayward Masters Classic? Canceled? Moved? Change of date?
Stay tuned.
