Olympic track and field icon Florence “Flo-Jo” Griffith Joyner’s memorabilia has returned to the hands of her husband, Al Joyner, thanks to A+E’s Storage Wars star, Rene Nezhoda.
According to a video posted by Bargainhuntersthrift on Youtube, Al, also an Olympic gold medalist, received the memorabilia from Rene in a parking lot in San Diego, Calif on Mar. 19, after making a deal with him.
The reality show personality’s friend, George, reportedly purchased Florence’s storage locker in the same city eight years ago. He said he paid several thousand dollars for the locker, which included numerous valuable items, including an original Flo-Jo doll released by the LJN toy company in 1989. It also had a 1988 issue of Sports Illustrated with her and fellow Olympic legend Jackie Joyner-Kersee on the cover, her Olympic jacket from the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea and pair of her signed track shoes. That year, Florence reportedly received three gold medals and broke multiple records at the Seoul Olympics for the 100m and 200m dash.
Rene initially said he would sell each piece on eBay or through the multi-national auction house, Heritage Auctions, but he would return them to Flo-Jo’s family if they reached out to him. Thankfully, her family and friends, including Al, did exactly that after seeing that the TV personality had acquired the priceless items.
The piece that Al reportedly cherished the most was his late wife’s weight belt, which they used together while they worked out. It was about to head into the trash bin, but he retrieved it just in time.
The 62-year-old former athlete, Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s brother, married Florence in October 1987. Unfortunately, she passed away in her sleep a decade later, on Sept. 21, 1998, while suffering from an epileptic fit.
Her family paid the bills for her storage rental for years following her death, but they eventually stopped, and her locker went up for auction. Luckily, Al struck the perfect deal to get them back and will also get to see Flo-Jo’s legacy depicted on the big screen as well.
In June 2021, it was announced that comedienne Tiffany Haddish will star as the fastest woman in the world in an upcoming biopic. Haddish, who will also be producing the film, reportedly looked up to her as a young girl growing up in Los Angeles, Calif. A release date for the movie has not yet been announced.
