Women's hall of fame - African American athletes - Blacks in Sports: 1947-1992: The Legacy

Ebony, August, 1992

Anita DeFrance is the first American woman and the first Black American to sit on the International Olympic Committee, the governing body that oversees aU international Olympic competition. She will play a major role in planning the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. DeFrantz, the 1976 Olympic bronze medalist in rowing, is president and a member of the board of directors of the Amateur Athletic Foundation in Los Angeles.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee, called the "the world's greatest woman athlete," won two gold medals at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. She collected her first gold medal in the heptathlon, a punishing, two-day contest that tests the strength, speed and stamina of the toughest athlete. She captured her second gold medal in the long jump competition. The world and Olympic champion hopes to break her own records at the 1992 Games in Barcelona and is even thinking ahead to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.