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Jackie Joyner-Kersee, called the greatest female athlete of the 20th century, grew up in East St. Louis and was a two-sport all-American at Lincoln High. She won six Olympic medals, including two golds and a silver in the grueling heptathlon. Battling asthma and injury throughout her career, she won her last long jump medal in 1996 with a heroic final leap. She moved back to the metro area and in 2000 opened her most prized accomplishment, a youth center bearing her name, in East St. Louis. An inspiration to women around the world, her incomparable excellence and dedication elevated the stature of women's sport.
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