FloJo died twenty five years ago yesterday

how did she die

She died very young. It reminded me of Reggie White who died at 43 years-old.

No official autopsy was ever made public. But I have heard that her heart exploded.

Exploded!? Sh!t. How does that happen at age 38?!

I heard she died from an epileptic fit - apparently she was an epileptic.

It is in the article. Epileptic seizures caused by abnormalities in the blood vessels in the brain.

I was working at the USOC at the time and this was a shocker as so many of my colleagues knew her.

Well, what we did get suggested that she died as the result of a seizure in her sleep:

worldathletics.org

Autopsy proves Flo-Jo suffered an epileptic seizure - Nebiolo urges Media Restraint | NEWS | World Athletics

Autopsy confirms that the cause of death of Florence Griffith Joyner was epileptic seizure. Nebiolo urges media restraint in the future.

Open link

What seems most likely is that whatever the exact cause, it was congenital. Steroids are extremely unlikely to have been a factor, given how long it would have been since she had a serious cycle of them.

Normal human beings without specific congenital conditions can take much higher doses of steroids for longer, and easily live longer than the 38 years Flo-Jo did. Think of all the bodybuilders who have lingered into their fifties, albeit with their own set of major league side effects and disability because of it.

When bodybuilders die in their competitive prime, it's usually from some combination of factors related to their extreme contest diets (diuretic-induced dehydration, inadequate diets, etc.). The rest are taken out by heart issues or chronic conditions - but again, after much higher doses of steroids taken for much longer, and sitting at much higher bodyweights.

Too many steroids at a young age

If by "played the game better than the rest" you mean "did more drugs than the rest" then I agree.

Prove it. I'm so tired of people like you besmirching a dead woman's reputation, because you're obsessed with doping. Could she have? Sure - everyone from that era is suspect. Did she? There is zero proof that she did. It's likely her records were wind-aided outliers that slipped through the system, but she was an extremely healthy woman when she died. One of my best friends, only a few years older, died of a random brain aneurysm, and she was a health and fitness addict as well. Stop disrespecting someone who isn't here anymore to defend herself and go after the proven dopers if that's what makes you happy.

Zero proof? Oh sure she never tested negative (that we know of), but that doesn’t prove anything. Plenty of drug users never test positive. Joyner went from being a good international runner to the greatest the world has ever seen, in her mid-20s. Her times are maybe just now being approached 35 years later.

Look by all accounts she was a nice lady and well-liked. But that doesn’t mean she didn’t take drugs.

Yeah, I too like to insert the non-sequitorial nice disclaimer to make evince my non- racist, sexist, or misogynist bonafides.

Legendary records. If any if the current crop of sprinters get them it will be a travesty. Just a classless bunch they are now. No grace at all

Doctors tell people to rub nitroglycerin on themselves for chest pain. What could go wrong?

She's been reincarnated as shacarri Richardson.

^ an obvious PED user as well.

Who was the idiot that died and reincarnated as you?

Ha! You think I care about covering myself on letsrun?! You do not know Feel the Geez. No, I was just telling the truth, that Joyner seems to have been a very nice lady and no one denies this. She deserves to be remembered for that.

But the notion that she was clean is ridiculous. Her records are the most obvious drug records in any sport, with the possible exception of Barry Bond’s 73 home runs.

Wow. You are like an egyptian perch.